May 25, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 3 Arizona State women's golf team slipped three spots into a tie for fourth place after shooting a 22-over 310 in the third round of the 2006 NCAA Championships, being played at the par 72, 6,203-yard Scarlet Golf Course.
For ASU, Thursday's third-round score was its highest of the first three rounds after it recorded scores of four-over 292 and six-over 294 in the first and second rounds, respectively, to lead the tournament by three strokes after two rounds.
"We really focused on just playing the golf course and not worrying about what anyone else did, but it kind of got going the wrong way early," said ASU head coach Melissa Luellen. "The last couple of days we started off strong and today we started off poor and never really recovered."
Leading the tournament after three rounds are the Duke Blue Devils (876), who shot a tournament-best one-under 287 on Thursday to take a 13-shot lead heading into Friday's final round. Southern California, which began the day in third place, moved up one spot into second place (889) after recording a 10-over 298. Climbing two spots into third place was Pepperdine (894), which also posted a third-round score of 10-over 298. Rounding out the top five teams of the 24-team field are ASU and Purdue, who are both tied for fourth place (896).
Leading the Sun Devils in the third round were freshman Azahara Munoz and junior Tiffany Tavee, who both shot a four-over 76. Also contributing to ASU's team score were senior Alissa Kuczka, who shot a five-over 77 and junior Danelle Perata, who carded a nine-over 81.
Eileen Vargas of Pepperdine continued to lead the individual standings despite posting a three-over 75 on Thursday. Vargas, who is the only player under par after three rounds at two-under 214, currently leads the 126-player field by three strokes. Leading the Sun Devils after three rounds is Tavee, who is in a five-way tie for 12th place at five-over 221. Other ASU individuals include Munoz, who is in 23rd place at seven-over 223; freshman Jennifer Osborn, who is in a six-way tie for 44th place at 11-over 227; Kuczka, who is tied for 50th place at 12-over 228 and Perata, who is tied for 119th place at 27-over 243.
The NCAA Championships conclude with Friday's final round. The Sun Devils will tee off with California and Purdue at 12:30 p.m. EST. ASU will be seeking its first top-five finish since 1999 when it finished tied for second place.
Live hole-by-hole scoring for the 2006 NCAA Championships is available at www.golfstatresults.com.