May 12, 2007
St. George, Utah - The top-ranked Arizona State women's golf team finished in third place at the 2007 NCAA West Regional, advancing to NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. ASU, the top seed in the West Regional, shot a 2-over 286 in the third round for a three-round total of 24-over 876 at the par-71, 6,234-yard Estrada at Snow Canyon Country Club.
"We've had a great year and I'm glad we didn't lose it one tournament," said head coach Melissa Luellen. "In fact, we had a chance to win today. Our focus was to come in and pick up shots on our opponents. The goal was really to get through this tournament."
Freshman Anna Nordqvist surged in the third round, recording four birdies and no bogies on the day to finish in second place. Nordqvist shot a 67 in the third round to card a thee-day total of even-par 213 (72-74-67). Nordqvist's 67 was the lowest individual round of the tournament.
"Anna turned in another great performance," said Luellen. "She had a great round today to finish in second place."
Freshman Juliana Murcia finished in sixth place after carding a three-round total of 4-over 213 (73-71-73). Sophomore All-American Azahara Munoz finished the tournament with a three-round total of 7-over 220 (75-74-71) to tie for 10th place. Sophomore All-American Jennifer Osborn shot a three-round total of 13-over 226 (74-77-75). Senior Lindsay Anderson tied for 74th after shooting a three-round total of a 27-over 240 (81-81-78)
Oklahoma State and Stanford tied for first place, shooting 22-over 874 for the three-round tournament. Oklahoma State's Pernilla Lindberg, the tournament leader all three days, won individual honors, shooting a three-round total of 7-under 206.
The top eight teams from the NCAA West Regional, which includes Oklahoma State, Stanford, Arizona State, Denver, BYU, UC Irvine, Pepperdine and New Mexico, respectively, and two individuals, Kay Hoey (Long Beach State) and Kelly Nakashima (Idaho), qualified for the 2007 Division I Women's Golf Championships which will be held May 22-25 at the LPGA International Golf Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.
"We are the number three seed at nationals," said Luellen. "We are excited about our seeding and our seed doesn't give us a disadvantage with tee times. We are excited to go to nationals. The girls are happy and thinking about things they need to work on in their game."