First Round Notes
May 21, 2002
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn played a bogey-free round of 68 to take a one-stroke lead over Georgia's Summer Sirmons.Nirapathpongporn has recorded top-eight finishes in each of six tournaments this season, including one victory to earn Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors. At September's NCAA Preview at Washington National, Nirapathpongporn recorded rounds of 70 and 78 to place 18th overall.
The top-ranked Blue Devils have won six consecutive tournaments entering the NCAA Championships, but will have to make up ground after firing a first-round six-over 294, tied for second with Georgia but nine strokes behind leader Arizona.
Sixth-ranked Arizona took a commanding nine-stroke lead with a 3-under 285 on the tournament's first day. The Wildcats counted three rounds under par, including a two-under 70 by junior Laura Myerscough and a one-under 71 by 2001 NCAA runner-up Lorena Ochoa. The highest counting score for Arizona was a 1-over 73 by senior Cristina Baena, who finished the day in a tie for 19th. Freshman Mar Garcia also scored under par for the Wildcats.
Georgia's Summer Sirmons equaled her career-best score with a three-under 69, placing the junior second overall through Thursday's action. Sirmons has shot 69 four times in her career, but twice in her past two tournaments. The junior matched the mark in the second round of the 2002 NCAA East Regional tournament, helping the Lady Bulldogs climb from 10th to 7th with two birdies in the final four holes.
Georgia placed two athletes among the top scorers on the tournament's first day, with Angela Jermon's two-under 70 placing her in a seven-way tie for third behind leader Virada Nirapathpongporn of Duke, and the Lady Bulldogs' Summer Sirmons, second with a three-under 69. At last year's NCAA Championships, Jerman tied for 13th and Sirmons was tied for 27th, helping Georgia to its first national team title.
Angela Jermon's two-under 70 places the Georgia senior on pace for the school's all-time single-season stroke average record. Jerman entered the NCAA Championships with an average of 73.14 strokes per round, and needs to score better than 7-over (295) to break the record of 73.24 set by Reilley Rankin last season. Prior to Rankin, Georgia's stroke average record had stood for eight seasons.
Sirmons and Jermon each notched five birdies during their rounds, including a 20-foot chip-in birdie on the eighth hole. Sirmons' round also included two bogeys, while Jermon bogeyed three holes.
Top-seeded UCLA, the NCAA West Regional champion a week ago, fired a 26-over-par 314 to place 24th out of 24 teams. The five Bruins' golfers combined for just two birdies -both by sophomore Melissa Martin, who led the squad with a one-over 73.
2002 NCAA East Regional champion Florida jumped out to an early lead, but struggled on the back nine to finish 10-over-par, in a tie for fourth. The Gators' four scorers made the turn at 18 at even par, better than all other teams at that point. However, the four combined for just one birdie over the next nine holes, while tallying five bogeys and two double-bogeys. Florida's season average of 301.3 team strokes per round is a significant improvement over last year's average of 311.1. The Gators last competed in the NCAA Championships in 2000, placing 18th. The school's best finish is first, having won a pair of national titles in 1985 and 1986.
Stanford's Marcia Wallis is among several players tied for third at two-under par. At even par with less than two holes remaining, Wallis holed out an estimated 90-foot wedge for eagle on the 17th hole, the only eagle recorded by any competitor on the tournament's first day.
Second-ranked Auburn, who has placed no worse than second in 11 tournaments this year, carded a 10-over 298 to tie for fourth after one day of competition. The Tigers own a seven-year string of NCAA Championships appearances, fourth among current streaks only to Arizona (16), Stanford (13) and Arizona State (11). Auburn has won four tournaments in 2001-02, including September's NCAA Preview at Washington National.
