Late Surge Puts Arizona Atop NCAA Women's Golf Championships For Third Straight Day
May 23, 2002
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Auburn, WA ? After playing the first 14 holes 13-over par to fall to third overall, seventh-ranked Arizona totaled six birdies and an eagle in the final four holes to finish at 10-over through three rounds of the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships at Washington National Golf Club. The Wildcats are two strokes ahead of surging Texas, who scored under par for the second-consecutive day, and three ahead of second-ranked Duke.
"I preach and I preach until I am blue in the face about finishing strong," said Arizona coach Greg Allen. "They actually listened today. I'm actually more proud of the team today than I was after the round on Tuesday. They showed so much heart out there, the way the hung in there and kept battling. I know how frustrated they were getting by not making putts."
Friday's final pairing will include two of the top three individuals on the leaderboard, including leader Virada Nirapathpongporn of Duke, who carded her third-consecutive round under par to finish 2-under for the day, and 9-under overall. The Duke sophomore will be joined for the second day by 2001 NCAA Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa of Arizona, who sits third at 5-under, one stroke behind Georgia's Summer Sirmons.
"It's always been my plan to keep everything in perspective," said Nirapathpongporn following her round. "That's my theme for tomorrow. Coach [Dan Brooks] keeps telling us it doesn't matter when we walk away tomorrow whether we win or lose. If we play like we are capable of playing, that's all we want to do. We are who we are."
Top-ranked Auburn climbed back into contention Friday with a round of 3-under 285 that equaled the best by any team over the tournament's three days. The Tigers stand fourth overall at 19-over, while Florida and defending national-champion Georgia round out the top-five at 20-over.
The low round of the day was posted by Washington junior Louise Friberg, who tied the women's competitive round course record at Washington National with a 5-under 67. A native of Helsingborg, Sweden, Friberg notched a tournament-best seven birdies in posting the lowest score of her collegiate career, bettering the 69 she shot earlier this season at the Spartan Invitational at Corral De Tierra Country Club in Salinas, Calif.
Friberg's score tied as the third-lowest round ever recorded by a Husky. Dodie Mazzuca set the school record in 1997 with a 65. Friberg's teammate, Kelli Kamimura, shot 66 last season and a 67 in 1998.
"I had absolutely no idea," Friberg said regarding the record-tying round. "My mom told me when I walked up. It feels pretty good. I'm just happy to shoot 67, whether it was the course record or not, because I can't really control the course record."
Teeing off at 9 a.m. on the back nine, Friberg made par on the first seven holes during her round. She then birdied holes No. 17 and 18. After making the turn, she birdied holes No. 1, 3 and 4 to move to 5-under.
Friberg sank a 10-foot putt on No. 7 to move back to five-under. She then bogeyed No. 8 after leaving her tee shot short and right on the par-3, 204-yard hole. Friberg finished her round with a birdie on No. 9.
"I've had some trouble with my putting before, but I've been hitting the ball really good," Friberg said. "Yesterday after my round, my teacher, Joe Thiel, said, OeYour first mistake is that you're trying to make the putts, rather than picking a spot and rolling over it.' He said, OeAll you can do is roll the ball to where you want it. If you have accomplished that, then that's a good putt.' That was all I wanted to do today. There were a lot of putts in the first couple of holes that I didn't make that I could have, so I paced myself and hung in there and they started dropping."
The Washington National record was set during the second -round of the NCAA Championships when Oklahoma's Lisa Meldrum shot 67.
Friberg opened the 72-hole tournament by carding rounds of 79 and 76.
Washington shot 305 during the third round to tie with South Carolina for 19th overall at 904. The final round of the NCAA Championships will take place Friday.
