ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – After sitting just one stroke off the lead heading into day two of competition, Morgan Brasser ran away with the individual title at the Holiday Inn Express Classic in at the St. Joseph Country Club, a par-72 venue. She shot an opening round 2-over par 74, then backed that with an impressive even-par 72 to win the tournament by five strokes. She helped the Tigers to a fifth-place finish as a team.
Jessica Green of Rogers State led the tournament at 1-over par following the first round. Brasser held the lead for a good chunk of the first round before Green slipped to the top near the end of competition on Monday. On day two, Brasser asserted her presence by going 2-under par in her first four holes, finished her first nine at 1-under, and then eventually settled at even by shooting 1-over on the second nine. Green could not find a birdie in a 4-over par front nine, then she slipped even further with a double bogey on her 12th hole of the day and shot 6-over for the round to finish at +7 overall.
The rest of the field did not put up much of a challenge as Brasser and Green were the only two inside of +12 overall. Outside of Green, Brasser was 10 strokes clear of the remainder of the field. Brasser finished the tournament with eight birdies, eight bogeys, and one double bogey. Other than that, she was a par machine with 19 over the two rounds. Her eight birdies were best of any golfer in the field.
Kerrigan Rudolph shot 88 in the opening round and 85 in the second round to finish in a tie for 40th. Shauna Lee shot rounds of 93 and 82 to finish in a tie for 48th. Kira Mestl carded rounds of 90 and 85 to tie Lee for 48th. Lexie Ridder shot 101 and 86 to finish 65th.
Brasser's strong individual performance anchored the fifth-place finish for the FHSU women out of 13 teams competing at +93. Rogers State, ranked 20th nationally, won the tournament at +51, while Missouri Western was second at +78. Wayne State was third at +88 and Iowa Central Community College was a stroke behind at +89.
The Tigers will play their next two tournaments at Sand Creek Station in Newton, Kansas. The Tigers will be there April 4-5 at the Newman Invitational and then April 21-23 the course will be the site of the MIAA Championships.