The No. 7 Texas women’s golf team was met with gusty winds that exceeded 20 mph during the final day of competition at the Papago Golf Course in Phoenix, Arizona, where they concluded the PING/ASU Invitational tied for ninth place. Despite the potential setback the conditions might’ve made for the Longhorns, their fate was sealed in the second round of the tournament.
“What hurt us was round two. I’ve got to do a better job of getting our team ready to compete each day of the event,” Head Coach Ryan Murphy said. “We left ourselves too far back with one round to play and that’s on me.”
Texas recorded an even-par total score of 288 on the opening day and was tied for eighth place. On day two, the Longhorns shot a nine-over-par and dropped four places on the leaderboard. On the final day of the tournament, Texas delivered its strongest performance, carding a three-under-par score of 285, ranking fourth best among all teams. Texas finished with a cumulative score of 870 for six-above-par.
“I was really happy with (the third) round. Three-under-par in the strongest winds of the week was pretty good,” Murphy said. “Individually, each under-par round this week was some really good golf.”
Sophomore Angela Heo had the best individual performance of any Longhorn, finishing at even par and tied for 21st. She had a rocky first round, shooting a 76 for four-above-par, but had a promising bounce back in the following two days, carding consecutive 70’s for two-under-par each.
Freshman Farah O’Keefe strung together three consistent performances across the three days with a 72, a 74 and a 71, respectively. Individually, she finished tied for 30th with a score of one-above-par.
Sophomore Cindy Hsu finished tied for 43rd with a cumulative score of five-over-par. Hsu carded an impressive four birdies in her final round, scoring a 71.
Freshman Lauren Kim finished tied for 49th with a cumulative score of six-over-par. Like many of her teammates, Kim had an impressive final round that included three birdies, and she jumped 13 spots higher on the leaderboard.
Senior Bentley Cotton finished tied for 59th with a cumulative score of seven-over-par. She had solid performances in each of her three rounds, but couldn’t capitalize on birdie opportunities.
Junior Tiffany Cao finished tied for 65th with a cumulative score of eight-over-par. She had a strong one-under-par first day, as well as a decent two-over-par third day, but struggled on day two, ending with a score of 79 for seven-over-par.
The team will take a short break before competing in the Silverado Showdown in Napa, California, on April 8-10. Individually, Kim and O’Keefe will participate in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in Augusta, Georgia, starting on April 3rd.
