May 23, 2002
AUBURN, Wash. - The Arizona State women's golf team climbed one more spot to seventh place Thursday heading into Friday's final round at the NCAA Championships, being held May 21-24 at the par 72, 6,273-yard Washington National Golf Club.
The Sun Devils carded a four-over par 292 for the second consecutive day to move up to seventh from eighth on Thursday afternoon with a three-day total of 21-over par 885 (301-292-292). ASU is just two strokes out of the top four and a total of 11 strokes out of the lead heading into Friday's final round.
Arizona continues to lead the field with a three-day total of 10-over par 874 (285-296-293). Texas moved into second after carding a three-under 285 on Thursday for a three-day total of 876, followed by Duke (877), Auburn (883), Florida (884) and Georgia (884).
In Friday's final round, the six-time NCAA champion Sun Devils will be looking for their 16th top 10 finish in 21 NCAA appearances and their first since 1999. ASU has made 11 consecutive NCAA Championships appearance, the third-longest active streak in the country.
Junior Blair O'Neal leads the Sun Devils individually for the third straight round with a three-day total of two-over par 218 (72-72-74) to put her into a tie for 12th. Sophomore Jimin Kang carded the best round of the tournament so far for the Sun Devils with a four-under 68 on Thursday. Kang, a native of Edmonds, Wash., jumped 40 places in the individual standings with her round and is tied for 17th with a three-day total of three-over par 219 (73-78-68).
Junior Ga?lle Truet moved from 41st to 27th with a one-over 73 on Thursday and a three-round total of 222 (77-72-73). Junior Melanie Hunt is tied for 66th at 11-over par 227 (79-70-78). Freshman Erin Tone carded her best round of the tournament so far with a five-over 77 Thursday but does not figure in the individual standings after being disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard in the second round (80-DQ-77)
Duke's Virada Nirapathpongporn regained sole possession of the individual lead after carding a two-under 70 on Thursday. She leads second-place Summer Sirmons of Georgia by three strokes with a three-day total of nineunder 207 (68-69-70).
The Sun Devils tee off at 1:10 p.m. from the No. 10 tee on Friday afternoon in the final round of the NCAA Championships. Live, hole-by-hole scoring for the 2002 NCAA Championships is available at www.golfstat.com.
NCAA West Regional - Third Round Results May 21-24, 2002 - Washington National Golf Club - Auburn, Wash.1. Arizona 285-296-293=874 2. Texas 305-286-285=876 3. Duke 294-293-290=877 4. Auburn 298-300-285=883 5. Florida 298-291-295=884 Georgia 294-294-295=884 7. Arizona State 301-292-292=885 8. Ohio State 299-292-296=887 9. Oklahoma 299-289-301=889 Stanford 299-295-295=889 11. Pepperdine 301-294-297=892 12. California 298-303-292=893 13. Tulsa 302-297-296=895 14. Purdue 304-296-297=897 15. Michigan 301-299-299=899 Oklahoma State 299-303-297=899 USC 307-294-298=899 18. Vanderbilt 311-296-296=903 19. South Carolina 298-298-308=904 Washington 302-297-305=904 21. Wake Forest 298-305-302=905 22. UCLA 314-297-298=909 23. Michigan State 305-297-311=913 24. South Florida 313-322-323=958