Sept. 12, 2006
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Playing in the first tournament of her Sun Devil career, freshman Anna Nordqvist tied for second place in helping lead the No. 2 Arizona State women's golf team to a victory in the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational held at the 6,069-yard, par-73 UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M. The Sun Devils shot a three-round total of 7-under 869 (294-281-294) to capture the top spot at the tournament, their first of the 2006-07 season.
For the Sun Devils, the tournament win is their third in the last two seasons after capturing the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge and the Wildcat Invitational in back-to-back weeks last February.
"It's an incredible feeling to know that we can go out and compete as well as we did considering how young we are," said ASU head coach Melissa Luellen. "We had two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior in the lineup and they went out and won the tournament by 14 strokes."
Nordqvist, who finished the tournament with a 4-under 215 (73-73-69), led ASU on Tuesday with a 4-under 69 in helping the Sun Devils win the tourney by 14 strokes over BYU (298-294-291) and UNLV (291-298-294), who both tied for second place after finishing at 7-over 298. TCU shot a 13-over 889 (296-298-295) to finish fourth. Rounding out the top five schools from the 17-team tournament was South Carolina, which carded a 14-over 890 (295-288-307).
Nordqvist was one of three golfers to finish one stroke behind TCU's Catherine Matranga, who won the tournament with a 5-under 214 (71-73-70).
Also finishing in the top 10 for ASU were sophomores Jennifer Osborn (74-67-76) and Azahara Munoz (74-71-72), who both tied for seventh place after shooting a 2-under 217.
Other Sun Devil finishers included freshman Juliana Murcia, who carded a 2-over 221 (73-70-78) to tie for 15th place; senior Lindsay Anderson, who shot a 10-over 229 (75-77-77) to tie for 44th place, and junior Brooke Todare, who tied for 60th place after carding a 14-over 233 (75-78-80).
"The play of Anna was just outstanding," said Luellen. "It was also great to see Azahara Munoz and Jennifer Osborn finish in the top 10. And then you add Juliana Murcia's 15th place finish and you have four Sun Devils finishing in the top 15. That's great for any tournament let alone the first one of the season."
The Sun Devils return to action Sept. 22-24 when they travel to Daytona Beach, Fla., for the NCAA Fall Preview.