Ocano Shoots Career-Best Round On Final Day Of The Darius Rucker Intercollegiate

Sunday, March 4

Hilton Head, S.C. (Long Cove Club)

All Day

North Carolina

Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Day 3

Head Coach Jan Mann (left), Mariana Ocano (right)

Photo by: Andy Mead

Ocano Shoots Career-Best Round On Final Day Of The Darius Rucker Intercollegiate

March 4, 2018 | Women's Golf

Darius Rucker Final Results

By: Matt Hodgin

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. - Sophomore Mariana Ocano shot a 1-under-par 70 on Sunday in the final round of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate to finish in a tie for 11th. The performance helped lead Carolina to a tie for seventh place at 46-over-par 898 for the tournament.

The 70 is a career-best round for Ocano, who has only shot under par one other time in her career - earlier this fall when she shot a 1-under 71 in the second round of the Ruth's Chris Tar Heel Invitational

"We are really excited for her to finally break through and have a strong tournament because we absolutely knew she was capable. The only thing that was getting in her way was her mental game, and she made the decision for this event to strictly have no mechanical thoughts whatsoever and focus on things that she could control emotionally and mentally, and she just did a great job."

Ocano also matched her career-best tournament score with a 6-over-par 219 to tie for 11th, which is her second-best career finish. Last season, Ocano tied for fourth with a 3-over-par 219 at the River Landing Classic against a significantly weaker field.

"The field at River Landing was not strong at all," Mann said. "And this is probably one of the strongest fields we will have before the NCAAs."

To top it all off, Ocano drained an eight-foot putt on the final hole for par to help the Tar Heels finish ahead of No. 8 South Carolina (47-over par).

"It was a pretty good putt for a par," Mann said. "She stepped up there and just drilled it.

"She knew all along what she needed to do, but to actually do it in a tournament and to really see the effects of doing it, I think she was just very relieved that she could implement what she was trying to do and see the rewards."

Sophomore Brynn Walker shot a 74 Saturday to finish at 11-over par for the tournament and tied for 28th. Walker made par on 15 of her shots Sunday and would ultimately lead the entire field in par scoring with 42 pars.

Senior Bryana Nguyen shot a 75 Sunday to finish at 23-over par and tied for 87th, and freshman Ava Bergner completed the final round scoring for Carolina with a 78 to finish at 18-over and tied for 65th on the weekend.

Junior Kelly Whaley shot an 81 to finish at 19-over and tied for 69th for the tournament. Competing as an individual, junior Clementina Rodriguez shot a 77 in the final round to finish the tournament at 23-over par and tied for 87th.

Carolina ultimately finished ahead of four teams ranked in the Golfstat Top-25, including No. 8 South Carolina, No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 20 Virginia and defending-national champion No. 6 Arizona State.

"We had some very good performances out of each one of the girls," Mann said. "Throughout the tournament, there were moments where each of them contributed, but we certainly want to work on eliminating some big numbers. We want to keep them off of the scorecard."

No. 2 Alabama will take home the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate team title after shooting 5-over par in the final round and 14-over for the tournament. No. 5 Maria Fassi of Arkansas won the individual crown after shooting a 69 in the final round to finish at 3-under-par 210 on the weekend.

UP NEXT: The Tar Heels will travel to St. George, Utah, for the BYU at Entrada Classic hosted by the Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club from March 12-13. Fans can follow @uncwomensgolf on Twitter and Instagram for updates throughout the season. UNC women's golf is also on Facebook.

TAR HEEL SCORES
T11 - Mariana Ocano 73-76-70—219 (+6)
T28 - Brynn Walker 75-75-74—224 (+11)
T65 - Ava Bergner 71-82-78—231 (+18)
T69 - Kelly Whaley 74-77-81—232 (+19)
T87 - Bryana Nguyen 81-80-75—236 (+23)
Team Totals: 293-308-297—898, +46 (T-7th of 18 teams)

(competing as an individual)
T87 - Clementina Rodriguez 75-84-77—236 (+23)

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Alabama 286-291-289—866 (+14)
2. Arkansas 290-296-288—874 (+22)
3. Wake Forest 296-294-288—878 (+22)
4. Duke 295-296-288—879 (+27)
5. Northwestern 287-296-303—886 (+34)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
1. Maria Fassi (Arkansas) 70-71-69—210 (-3)
2. Lauren Stephenson (Alabama) 69-71-72–212 (-1)
3. Emily Migliaccio (Wake Forest) 70-71-72—213 (-E)
4. Claudia De Antonio (LSU) 67-72-75—214 (+1)
5. Jillian Hollis (Georgia) 72-69-74—215 (+2)