OU women lead Big 12 Championship, OSU in seventh
The 13th-ranked University of Oklahoma women’s golf team shot a 3-over-par 291 in Friday’s first round of the 54-hole Big 12 Championship to finish the day in first place. The nine-team event is being played at the 6,143-yard, par-72 UT Golf Club in Austin, Texas.
The Sooners are four shots in front of second-place Kansas State and six strokes ahead of third-place Texas Tech. All five Sooners are in the top 20 of the individual standings.
OU’s Chirapat Jao-Javanil carded an opening-round 69 (-3) and is tied for the lead with Kansas’ Yupaporn Kawinpakorn. Jao-Javanil, a senior who tied for second place at the 2012 Big 12 Championship, recorded five birdies on the day. She fired a 4-under 32 on the front nine.
Playing in OU’s No. 5 slot, senior Kaitlyn Rohrback recorded a 73 (+1) to finish the day tied for 12th place. Rohrback’s scorecard reflected 15 pars, a birdie and just two bogeys.
Senior Emily Collins registered three birdies and finished with a first-day 74 (+2), good for a 14th-place tie. Senior Anne-Catherine Tanguay and freshman Alexandra Kaui each shot a 3-over 75. The duo is tied for 16th place.
Fifth-year OU head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell said she’s happy with her team’s opening-round performance.
"We played well today," Drouin-Luttrell said. "I’m proud of the way we came out and took care of our own rounds. We were focused from the get-go and it paid off. We have a great game plan and our goal is to stick with it for the next two rounds."
Teams will begin second-round play Saturday at 8 a.m. CT with OU teeing off at 9:40 a.m. The final round will be played Sunday.
Oklahoma State’s women’s golf team carded a 298 during its first round Friday.
Forced to play with just four players due to an injury to senior Jayde Panos, the Cowgirls’ 10-over score put them just one shot behind Baylor, Texas and Kansas for fourth place. Oklahoma came in as the first-day leader after posting a 291.
OU’s Chirapat Jao-Javanil and Kansas’ Yupaporn Kawinpakorn shared the individual lead after posting 3-under 69s.
OSU’s Amy Ruengmateekhun was one of four players to sign for a 2-under 70, tying her for third place. The Cowgirl senior started quickly with a birdie at the first and moved to 3-under par for the day with birdies at the fourth and fifth. Ruengmateekhun closed her outward nine with four pars in a row to turn at 3-under 33. After a bogey at the 11th, she carded her fourth birdie of the day on the following hole. After a bogey at the 15th, she carded three consecutive pars to close out her round.
Ruengmateekhun was joined in the top 10 by classmate Lauren Falley, who posted an even-par 72 to come in tied for eighth. Falley posted a 2-over 38 on her front nine, before putting together a back nine that featured birdies at the 12th and 13th as well as seven pars to get back to level par.
Sophomore Julie Yang posted a 75 to stand in a tie for 16th place, while freshman Isabella Deilert’s 81 tied her for 41st place.
The Cowgirls will begin their second round tomorrow at 8:10 a.m. and will be grouped with Iowa State and TCU.