NCAA Bryan Regional Final Round Statistics (Lonardi)

THE RUNDOWN
BRYAN, Texas -- Baylor women's golf senior Laura Lonardi finished in fifth place at the NCAA Bryan Regional, which was enough to earn her an individual spot in the 2016 NCAA Championship. Lonardi carded a final-round score of 1-under-par 71 on Saturday, bringing her to 4-under 212 after three rounds at Traditions Golf Club.

The top six teams from the regional advanced to the NCAA Championship, and the top three individuals on non-advancing teams earned individual spots in the Championship. Lonardi's fifth-place finish was best among players whose teams didn't advance, so she earned the first individual spot. Louisville's Olivia Cason (-3, 213) and Gonzaga's Bianca Pagdanganan (-2, 214) earn the two remaining individual berths.

Lonardi entered the final round one stroke back of the projected individual cut, trailing Pagdanganan by five strokes, Oklahoma's Hannah Wood by three strokes and Cason by one stroke. Lonardi dug a hole by making bogey on the first three holes in the final round, but she played clean golf the rest of the way, carding four birdies and 11 pars to climb all the way to fifth place. She made birdies on the par-5 eighth hole, the par-4 12th hole, the par-5 15th hole and the par-4 17th hole.

Lonardi is the third player in program history to earn an individual berth to the NCAA Championship. She joins Melanie Hagewood, who tied for 50th place in 2002 and Hayley Davis, who tied for 10th place in 2014. The best any Baylor player has ever finished at the Championship came last season, when Dylan Kim took fourth place while playing on the Bears' team that finished as national runner-up.

HIGHLIGHTS
- Lonardi tied for 11th in par-3 scoring average at 1-under 2.92.
- Lonardi tied for seventh in par-4 scoring average at 1-under 3.97.
- Lonardi tied for 12th in par-5 scoring average at 2-under 4.83.
- Lonardi made 13 birdies over 54 holes, tied for third-most in the 96-player field.
- Lonardi rebounded from slow starts in all three rounds at the Bryan Regional -- she made bogey or worse on her first hole in every round.
- Lonardi combined to shoot 6-under after taking the turn in each round after shooting a combined 2-over heading out.
- Lonardi's second-round 66 was the third-best NCAA Tournament round by any player in program history.
- Lonardi's 212 tied the fourth-best NCAA Regional score in program history, trailing only Hayley Davis' 200 in 2015, Dylan Kim's 208 in 2015 and Davis' 210 in 2014.
- Lonardi's fifth-place finish was the seventh top-5 NCAA Regional finish in program history. Davis finished first in 2015, tied for second in 2014 and third in 2012, Kim finished third in 2015, Josefin Svenningsson finished third in 2004 and Melanie Hagewood finished fourth in 2002.
- Lonardi rebounded from a first-round 75 that had her in a tie for 46th place. She shot a combined 7-under over her final two rounds to climb to fifth place.

STAT OF THE DAY
3rd-- Laura Lonardi became the third player in program history to earn an NCAA Championship individual berth, joining Melanie Hagewood (2002) and Hayley Davis (2014).

WHAT'S NEXT
Lonardi will compete in the 2016 NCAA Championship, which runs May 20-23 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com. Follow @BaylorWGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the year.