Well, that was fast.

Shortly after earning Pac-10 player of the year honors as a sophomore at USC and helping the Women of Troy finish second (by just one stroke) to Purdue at the NCAA Championship last month, Jennifer Song is off to a strong start on the professional tour. 

Over the weekend, the former USC All-American won the Tate & Lyle Players Championship, a Duramed FUTURES Tour event, while breaking a tournament scoring record in the process. Per USCTrojans.com:

Former USC All-American Jennifer Song wasted little time in making her mark as a first-week professional, winning her pro debut this past weekend by six shots at the $125,000 Tate & Lyle Players Championship, a Duramed FUTURES Tour event.

Song carded rounds of 68-67-65-61 to smash the tournament's 72-hole record at 19-under 261 at Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur, Ill. She also tied the previous 18-hole mark with her sizzling 9-under-par score of 61 in Saturday's (June 19) final round of the 26th annual event.

"This win means a lot," said Song, 20, of Ann Arbor, Mich., who pocketed $17,500 for her first professional payday. "Turning professional and stepping into the real world is special, but it's also scary. Honestly, I don't know what was going through my head today. It was like magic."

Song, the 2010 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year, helped the Women of Troy finish second (by just one stroke) at the recent NCAA Championship.

Song won't be returning to USC as a junior next season, surrendering her two remaining years of eligibility, as she will be devoting herself full-time to the professional tour. As a result, it's nice to see her enjoying so much success early on. We wish her all the best.

Fight On!

From ESPN...

Southern California freshman Jennifer Song shot a 1-under 71 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead in the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship and help the Trojans top the team standings.

Song, one of three Southern California players in the top 20, had an even-par 216 total on the Caves Valley course. Purdue's Maria Hernandez (72) and UCLA's Maria Jose Uribe (77) were tied for second at 2-over.

"We are mentally and physically prepared," Song said. "We've been preparing for this event for one year and all of my teammates are really ready and pumped up. We've been having a lot of second places and I think this is our chance to win."

Southern Cal had a 26-over 890 total for a one-stroke lead over top-ranked Arizona State. No. 2 UCLA was three strokes back at 29 over.

There is still a ways to go but I like SC's chances. Keep it going ladies!

FIGHT ON!

From the USC Website.

A tournament that was played in heat, cold, wind, hail and rain, one played in the disappearing light of dusk and one played often with lightning in the background, finally found some calm during the final round's last nine holes.

The skies cleared and the sun returned, the winds stopped and the grass dried off a little bit. What was left was the No. 1 USC women's golf team, fighting to maintain a small lead in the 2008 NCAA Women's Golf Championships against crosstown rival UCLA, a team that refused to give an inch.

But the Women of Troy were up to the fight. Beginning the final round with a three-stroke lead, USC never buckled under the pressure and kept the Bruins at bay during six hours of battle to win the 2008 NCAA team title at the University of New Mexico Championship G.C. in Albuquerque, N.M., on Friday (May 23).

Troy led after each round for a wire-to-wire win. Going back to the 2008 Pac-10 and NCAA West Regional Championships, USC finished its last nine rounds in first.

This one takes the sting away from losing to ucla in Water Polo a couple of weeks ago.

Congrats Ladies! Way bring it home!!

FIGHT ON!

I'll admit to completely sleepwalking this because I don't pay attention to golf - even though I've been driving by all the signs for the AT&T National while commuting out to work...

Anyway.

Jamie Lovemark, rising SC sophomore and NCAA men's individual golf title holder, was profiled in the Washington Post earlier this week:

Whatever works, I'd say. Lovemark also was included in a puff piece about what players are carrying around on the course this week (PDF File)

After the second round, Jamie Lovemark is in a 14-way (!) tie for 26th on the leader board, standing at a cumulative +1. Yesterday he hit a 64 in Round 1 which left him 12th on the leader board, but today slipped a little to a 71, partly because of a rough start:

That double bogey escapade actually got called out in the WaPo "Hole of the Day" blurb for complete heinousness:

This, incidentally, is why I don't play golf. It's not a sport, it's a Calvinist life lesson with visors: whenever you think that you're getting somewhere, you get bitten in the ass. And not in a good way.

According to Tom Boswell in the Washington Post, the course is running very soft and slow - drives aren't running, and the greens are especially slow. I'll have to take his word for it - all I know about Congressional is that they do a decent club sandwich (which I know because our realtor is a member, I hasten to add...)

Lovemark tees off tomorrow morning at 11.35 EDT, so Fight On! and best of luck to him. I'll update tomorrow.

Update [2007-7-9 11:10:32 by DC Trojan]:

Lovemark shot a 73 on Saturday and a 71 on Sunday, leaving him at a cumulative 5 over, tied for 45th with 9 other players - not bad for a 19 year old amateur, I should think.