Fassi places first, Benton second as Hogs finish third at SEC Championship

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Arkansas senior Maria Fassi posted a 1-under 71 winning her first SEC individual title at the Legends Course at Greystone Country Club on Friday.

Fellow senior Kaylee Benton birdied two of her final three holes playing to a tied for second with a 3-under 69 leading the Razorbacks to a third-place finish. The Hogs move on to face Auburn in the first round of match play to determine the team title.

Fassi was tied for the lead late in the final round but birdied Nos. 9 and 11 and parred the last four holes for the four-shot win over three players, including Benton. Fassi’s outright win is the third in Razorback history. Stacy Lewis won the individual crown as a freshman in 2005 and again as a senior in 2008.

Fassi shot 71-68-71—210 tying the second-best Arkansas score at the SEC Tournament. It is one shot behind her 209 last season that put her in a tie for the lead forcing a playoff.

Benton was equally steady all week shooting 72-73-69—214. Her final round 69 ties her best round of the season and is her fourth round in the 60’s. It is Benton’s second top-10 finish at the SEC Championship after finishing tied for seventh as a sophomore.

Senior Dylan Kim finished tied for 16th overall, shooting 73-72-75—220 while freshman Ximena Gonzalez shot 75-76-75—226 to finish tied for 40th in her first conference event. Freshman Brooke Matthews shot 77-74-78—220 to finish tied for 52nd as all five players contributed at least one round to the team total.

As a team, the Razorbacks had the best round of the day with a 2-over 290 to shoot 291-287-290—868 in stroke play. Florida finished first followed by South Carolina.

Arkansas was third as a team, just five shots back of the Gators. The rest of the top-8 include Vanderbilt, Georgia, Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss.

Match play begins Saturday morning with the winner of the Arkansas/Auburn match meeting the winner of the South Carolina/Mississippi State contest.

From SEC Champion Maria Fassi

“It’s amazing to win the SEC Championship. We are one of the toughest conferences and being able to win and to do it in tough conditions like it was today is just amazing. I enjoy playing in the rain. It kinda brings out the best in me. It keeps me focused on things I need to focus on. I don’t worry as much about if I made a putt or missed a putt. I have to think about keeping my hands dry, keeping my clubs dry – things like that. It is so many things to think about that it makes me stay in the present. I worked hard to hit good shots today and hoped that would be enough at the end of the day. I knew where I was (on the leaderboard) and I just had to stay with my plan.”

From SEC Runner-Up Kaylee Benton

“I knew coming down the stretch I had to finish good for the team. At 16 I had a good look at a birdie and made it. I made a good par on 17 and hit my putt on 18 – it felt really good. The 18th hole has so many good memories for me. It was the final hole to win the SEC Championship (last year). Coming in today I had a nice wedge look at it and a pretty simple up-and-down and I pulled it off.”

Razorback Lineup

The Field

SEC Championship Notes

• Arkansas won the program’s first SEC title and it was the first title under the format that features match play.

• Maria Fassi tied for the individual title but lost the playoff. Fassi finished T5 as a freshman (2016), T63 as sophomore (2017) and as runner-up as a junior (2018).

• Arkansas finished third in stroke play last year and won the match play portion for the SEC title.

• The Razorbacks have 12 top-5 SEC finishes in program history.