The 2024 edition of the Guardian Championship is in the books. The course par of the tournament was set at 72 strokes with a purse in the neighborhood of $260,000. With the pressure on, former Trojan Fatima Fernandez Cato showed up and performed.
Cato edged out a one-stroke victory over the competition – Ingrid Lindblad finished in second place. The former Trojan won the award by shooting 14 under par in a little more than 200 strokes. Along with a trophy, Cato took home just under $40,000.
Ladies Professional Golf Association’s Epson Tour afforded Cato and the other participants the platform to show their talents. There were 54 holes played on the Senator Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail’s Capitol Hill location in Elmore, Alabama.
The list of tournament winners dates back to 2017, where America’s Lindsey Weaver-Wright took home the top prize. Cato’s performance tied her for third place amongst tournament winners.
The Epson Tour has been Cato’s home since 2018. She has seen success while being a member of the organization, logging 26 top-10 finishes in her career. She has three career wins.
Her rookie year was 2018, but that’s not when the winning precedent was set. In fact, her winning ways started when she was around the age of nine. Between 2004 and 2011, Cato earned no lower than a second-place finish in any championship she played in.
Cato, a native of Spain, saw great success while donning the Power T. After arriving on campus in 2014, it did not take long for her to make an impact as she received several awards. The list includes 2014 Sun Belt Conference Individual Champion and the 2014 Sunbelt Conference Freshman of the Year.
The years following her freshman campaign continued to bring success. As a Trojan, Cato became a back-to-back Sun Belt Conference First Team member – three times overall. In 2016, she qualified for the NCAA Regional. She also was named the Sun Belt Golfer of the Year.
As Cato continues her eight-year professional career she currently is in the “Race for the Card,” where she ranks fourth.
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