Oklahoma Christian’s Rigsby wins Mustang Intercollegiate
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (April 6, 2019) – Abigail Rigsby is establishing quite an aura when it comes to winning playoffs.
For the third time in her Oklahoma Christian career, Rigsby prevailed in golf’s version of overtime, emerging from a five-woman playoff to win the Mustang Intercollegiate on Saturday at Palm Valley Golf Club.
The junior from Courtenay, British Columbia, won her third collegiate tournament and the second of her junior season, with the first coming in the Oklahoma Intercollegiate at Lawton Country Club in Lawton, Okla., in October. She emerged from a four-person playoff to win that tournament and also won a playoff at the 2017 NCAA Division II West Super Regional to earn a spot in the Division II Championship.
The individual win was the 20th by an OC player in the program’s eight-season history and the fourth of the 2018-19 season, as senior Kate Goodwin also has won twice. Rigsby’s final score was 1-under par, only the eighth time an OC player has finished under par at a tournament.
After shooting a 2-under 70 in the opening round, Rigsby entered the final round in a three-way tie for the lead. She shot a steady round of 73 on the 6,005-yard course, recording two birdies, one bogey and one double bogey. By round’s end, a quintet of players had separated from the 116-woman field, each finishing with a two-round score of 143, three shots ahead of any other player.
Jelina Fernando and Holly Winter of West Texas A&M, Katie Ford of Dixie State (Utah), Summer Vigil of Fort Lewis (Colo.) and Rigsby all headed to the No. 18 tee for the playoff. Rigsby made quick work of it with a birdie to emerge as the winner.
Competing with only four players, No. 18-ranked OC finished fifth in the 23-team field. The Eagles posted a 302 team score on Saturday to finish at 601, 18 shots behind the winner, No. 5-ranked West Texas A&M. Colorado State-Pueblo was second at 586, followed by No. 17 Academy of Art (Calif.) at 591, California State-Monterey Bay at 596 and OC.
OC sophomore Shaley Goad of Wheeler, Texas, posted a final-round 72 (which included three birdies) and tied for 20th at 149. Goodwin, a senior from Tulsa, fired an 80 and tied for 42nd at 153, while senior Elizabeth Freeman of Edmond shot a 77 and tied for 55th at 156.
The Eagles will play another tournament in Arizona starting on Monday, the West Texas Desert Invitational at The Lodge at Ventana Canyon in Tucson.