Women's Golf Captures First Title of Season at Dick McGuire Invitational
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Arizona's women's golf team captured its second straight Dick McGuire Invitational championship and its first title of the young season on Saturday at the University of New Mexico's Championship Course. The Cats shot a final round of 302 to finish at 16-under-par.
Arizona freshman Lorena Ochoa earned the first tournament championship of her collegiate career after finishing the competition with a seven-under-par 212. Junior Cristina Baena carded an even par 219 to claim second place.
"Lorena played great. She's one of the great college golfers, it was only a matter of time before she got her first win...I'm proud of her, I'm proud of all the girls," Coach Allen said. "It's always good to win, especially that first one."
The Wildcats finished play five strokes ahead of runner-up Tulsa (+21) and 12 strokes ahead of second round leader Pepperdine (+28). Fellow Pac-10 schools UCLA, Washington, and Oregon St. finished action in ninth, 13th and 16th, respectively.
Arizona was led by its freshman standout as Ochoa was the only golfer to finish the tournament under par. Junior Laura Myerscough turned in a final round score of 77 to close out the tournament at five-over-par, earning a tie for sixth place. Senior Cristelle Cuzon, competing as an individual, finished in a tie for 27th at 11 shots over par.
Ochoa broke or tied several Championship Course records on the way to medalist honors. Her first round of 69 tied the record for first round individual score and her two round total of 140 set a new 36-hole individual record. Ochoa's three-round total of 212 ties the 54-hole individual record held by former Wildcat Marisa Baena, sister of current UA golfer Cristina.
The top-ranked Wildcats return to action on October 20 at the Stanford/Pepsi Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.
Fin. School Score Fin. Name School Score 1 ARIZONA 291-299-301=892 (+16) 1 Lorena Ochoa ARIZONA 69-71-72=212 (-7) 2 Tulsa 301-291-305=897 (+21) 2 Cristina Baena ARIZONA 73-75-71=219 (E) 3 Pepperdine 295-294-315=904 (+28) 3 Carrie Summerhays Brigham Young 71-72-77=220 (+1) 4 New Mexico 306-298-309=913 (+37) T4 Lindsey Wright Pepperdine 73-73-77=223 (+4) 5 Oklahoma 304-305-306=915 (+39) Tara Bateman Baylor 76-75-72=223 (+4) ARIZONA 291-299-301=891 (+16) 1 Lorena Ochoa 69-71-72=212 (-7) 2 Cristina Baena 73-75-71=219 (E) T6 Laura Myerscough 71-76-77=224 (+5) T27 Christelle Cuzon* 75-74-81=230 (+11) T56 Christina Monteiro 78-78-82=238 (+19) T62 Nancy Abiecunas 79-77-83=239 (+20)
* competing as an individual, score does not count toward UA score
