AUGUSTA, Ga. – Abby Newton shot 74 in the first round, tied for the fourth-lowest score of the day, and carded a 75 Sunday to tie for 16th at the Valspar Augusta Invitational.

Winds gusted up to 40 miles per hour Saturday, causing the tournament to be shortened to 36 holes. The average score for Saturday was 79.69, and the average round for the tournament was 77.69.

Newton made par on her first four holes of the first round and played the front nine even with three birdies. The sophomore parred five straight holes in the middle of today's round and played her last two 1-under with a birdie at 11.

Mia Kness shot 72 to lead the Eagles Sunday. The senior parred her first five holes of the day and shot 2-under on her final three holes with birdies at 11 and 13.

Fourth-ranked South Carolina and 25th-ranked Ole Miss tied for the lead in the team standings, and the Eagles finished 15th, a stroke ahead of South Florida. The field featured eight teams ranked in the top-50 and 14 individuals ranked in the top-100, according to Golfstat. 

Results
Team – 332-303=635 (+59), 15
Abby Newton – 74-75=149 (+5), T16
Mia Kness – 87-72=159 (+15), T62
Kaysie Harrelson – 83-79=162 (+18), 77
Sarunchana Rattanasin – 88-79=167 (+23), T82
Alexandra Stevenson – 90-77=167 (+23), T82

Quotables from Coach Mimi Burke
"The main takeaway we have from this weekend is that we need to get tougher. I'm happy and proud Abby ended the weekend with a top-20 in a stacked field. It really shows her talent and potential. However, we will be working on and off the course to get mentally tougher for this coming Thursday and the following weekend at the Liz Murphey. Once we all click at the same time, we will finally show everyone our true potential. Time to get back to work. GATA!"

Up Next
The Eagles are slated to compete in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, hosted by Georgia, March 25-27.