By Lindsay Gaesser, SDA Media Relations
Tempe, Ariz.—Monica Vaughn won her first collegiate title at the 2015 PING/ASU Invitational on Sunday afternoon, helping the No. 25 Arizona State women’s golf team to a second-place finish. Finishing at 6-under 210 (69-69-72), the ASU sophomore shared the individual title with Texas’ Bertine Strauss at the par-72, 6,223-yard Karsten Golf Course.
“I was really nervous to start the day,” said Vaughn. “But I didn’t let the nerves get to me, and I was able to get through it. I just played smart all day, and I think that was what helped me to get this win.
I’m so proud of my team too,” Vaughn added. “They played so well. Our goal was top five for this tournament. We’ve won earlier this year, but I think this is an even better win because the field was so strong. I’m incredibly proud of them.”
Through 54 holes, Vaughn carded nine birdies and the second-most pars (42) of the tournament. The sophomore was 5-under on par-five holes and 1-under on par-four holes. Vaughn’s first-place finish marks her third top-five finish of the season.
“What I said to Monica on the last hole was, ‘I’m so proud of your composure today,’” said ASU associate head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. “She held her composure. The biggest difference between last year and this year is that she’s handling herself so well on the golf course and her emotional and mental management under pressure.
How far she’s come in a year, some players don’t do that in four years,” said Farr-Kaye. “Some great things to come from Monica Vaughn. I’m just so excited to watch her progress.”
Eighth-ranked Arizona captured the team title on Sunday with a 3-under 861 through three rounds. This is the third time the Wildcats have finished on top at the PING/ASU Invitational. The Sun Devils finished seven strokes back from the Wildcats, tied for second with No. 28 Baylor.
“We played so solid all week,” said Vaughn of the team’s performance. “This being our home course, a course that we’re comfortable with and that we know, none of us got scared. We really just held our own out there and we didn’t let the strength of the field get to us.”
Rounding out the top five, No. 1 Southern California and defending tournament champion No. 4 South Carolina tied for fourth at 6-over 870. Of the remaining top-10 teams competing this weekend, No. 5 Duke tied for seventh, while No. 3 UCLA, No. 7 Arkansas, and No. 2 Washington finished in ninth, 11th, and 14th, respectively.
Duke’s Leona Maguire was awarded the Anne Votik Outstanding Freshman Award after shooting a tournament total of 5-under 211 (66-74-71). Maguire shot a tournament-low 66 in Friday’s round.
The 2015 PING/ASU Invitational concludes the Sun Devils’ regular season. Next up, Arizona State heads to Boulder, Colo., for the Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championships. The tournament will be held Apr. 20-22 at the Boulder Country Club.
“This momentum going into the conference tournament is extremely important,” said Vaughn of the upcoming Pac-12 Championships. “For us to have such a good finish with such a good field at our home tournament is just going to boost our confidence. We’re going to go to Pac-12s, and if we can play like we did this week we’ll be top of the field.”
| T2 | Arizona State | 287 | 290 | 291 | 868 | +4 |
| T1 | Monica Vaughn (1) | 69 | 69 | 72 | 210 | -6 |
| T20 | Noemi Jimenez (2) | 70 | 73 | 76 | 219 | +3 |
| T27 | Sophia Zeeb (3) | 73 | 75 | 72 | 220 | +4 |
| T57 | Roberta Liti (4) | 81 | 73 | 71 | 225 | +9 |
| T66 | Ashleigh Greenham (5) | 75 | 76 | 77 | 228 | +12 |
| T73 | Saki Iida (I) | 79 | 73 | 78 | 230 | +14 |
| 86 | Emilie Alonso (I) | 76 | 77 | 82 | 235 | +19 |