Burnham Named Big Ten Player of the Year

  EAST LANSING, Mich. – Just two days after leading the Michigan State University women’s golf team to the Big Ten Conference championship, former Wayzata High School standout, Sarah Burnham, was named the 2017 Big Ten Women’s Player of the Year.

On Sunday, the junior finished as runner-up at the Big Ten Championship following a school and tournament record 9-under par 63 during the second round. Burnham would go on to finish one shot behind the University of Michigan’s Elodie Van Dievoet.

Burnham’s scoring average of 72.17 will likely break the previous record (72.42), which she set a year ago as a sophomore. Notching a pair of runner-up finishes during the 2016-17 season, Burnham is the fourth Spartan to earn Player of the Year honors.

During her sophomore season, Burnham earned seven top-10 finishes and claimed her first two collegiate victories, advancing to the NCAA Tournament as an individual.

A two-time Minnesota Golf Association Women’s Player of the Year and three-time MGA Junior Girls Player of the year, Burnham won three tournaments during the 2016 season, including a dominating eight-stroke victory at the Women's State Amateur Championship at Brackett's Crossing Country Club.

She has qualified for three consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur championships and in 2015, fulfilled her lifelong dream of playing in the U.S. Women’s Open by qualifying for the championship at Lancaster Country Club in Lancaster, Pa.