GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Paula Francisco started play Sunday in the final round of the Gators Invitational with a one-shot lead over teammate Siuue Wu and with Virginia’s Mira Berglund on the prowl.

A junior from Spain, Francisco’s personal gallery included a rare guest. Her mother, Maria Francisco, had a business trip to Chicago last week and, before returning home to Madrid on Monday, extended her stay in the U.S. to watch her daughter play in Florida’s only home tournament of the season.

Maria knows her way around a golf course. She was a talented amateur player growing up and marveled at the late Spaniard Seve Ballesteros, who, as a 19-year-old in 1976, finished runner-up in the British Open.

“Seve was my hero,” Maria said. “I love this sport.”

Maria’s passion for golf has provided countless stories at family gatherings over the years. Paula’s relatives have told her that when Maria was pregnant with her, Maria played golf right up until she couldn’t. Maria Francisco definitely cherished what she witnessed on Sunday at Mark Bostick Golf Course.

The Gators ran away with the team title, and Paula Francisco led the way, finishing the three-day tournament at 10-under par (68-65-67—200). Francisco pulled away in Sunday’s final round to win by five strokes over runner-up Berglund.

She took charge with four birdies on the front nine, setting the stage for a memorable scene after Francisco tapped in for an anti-climactic bogey on the 18th to cap her first collegiate victory. Her teammates chased her off the green, as Francisco ran to avoid the splash of their water bottles.

She couldn’t escape Maria, who emptied her bottle over her daughter’s head before the two embraced in a victory hug.

“I talked to Coach before the week, and she was like, ‘Yeah, I know you dream about this, but now it’s game time.’ I’m just so grateful that my mom could come, and my first win is at home, and that she was watching,” Paula said. “I don’t think I could want it any other way.”

Francisco blitzed her way up the scoreboard with a 5-under-par 65 in Saturday’s second round. She stayed hot on Sunday, firing a 4-under 31 on the front nine.

Maria, who last watched Paula play in person last July at the European Team Championships in France, realized what was happening. Her daughter was playing arguably the best golf of her career.

“It’s not easy,” she said. “I know a little bit about what it is to be in competition at that level. Not as good as she is.”

Florida head coach Emily Glaser spent most of Sunday driving around the course, checking in on her players. The stress level remained low considering the Gators shot a program-record 20-under-par and won by 18 strokes.

Glaser has watched Francisco blossom since the end of last season, when Francisco finished runner-up at the NCAA Charlottesville (Va.) Regional to help the Gators advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2019. She is a young player with a big personality and huge upside, sinking 14 birdies with only four bogeys over the 54-hole tournament.

“She’s a great ball striker, and I think this golf course is good for great ball strikers,” Glaser said. “I mean, I think her birdie putts were all pretty close range, but I’m really proud of just mentally, how she handled [Sunday]. You know, she’s been in this position before and hasn’t been able to get it done, but that’s like a normal evolution of kind of learning to put yourself in that position.

“She was calm, and it’s almost like you have to be okay with not winning to put yourself in a position to win. And I think that’s what she did.”

Glaser didn’t have to say much in the final round to the Gators or Francisco, a 20-year-old junior.

“Sometimes you just gotta know when to stay out of the way,” Glaser said.

Francisco opened Sunday’s final round with four consecutive pars, and then birdied the par-4, 389-yard fifth hole. After a par on the sixth hole, Francisco strung together three consecutive birdies on Nos. 7-9 to stretch her lead and coast home on the back nine.

She did it by staying steady between the ears.

“A good strategy in golf is to stay in the present and play shot by shot, hole by hole, and that was my strategy,” Francisco said. “Really happy that I stuck to my plan, and then it went my way. I was really comfortable hitting the ball. I knew I could hit it close. I was comfortable on the greens as well.

“I was feeling pretty good since the first hole. I knew I was playing well. The back nine was mentally harder, just because, you know, it’s getting close to the end, and you know you want to finish things up.”

After her teammates chased her, after her mom doused her with water, after the congratulatory hugs from assorted well-wishers, Francisco walked up the hill from the 18th toward the clubhouse with her mom’s arm around her shoulders.

They share a love for the game and competition. They shared a moment on Sunday that neither will forget.

“It was perfect timing,” Maria said soon after calling home to share the news. “I was so excited.”

Paula’s parting words at the awards ceremony served as a perfect epilogue.

“This win is really special, and I did it in front of my mom,” she said. “This is a dream for me.”