Photo courtesy of USC Athletics
The final day of the Pac-12 Women's Golf Championships wasn't as drama-filled as some had anticipated and that was just fine with USC head coach Justin Silverstein.
The Trojans entered the final day tied with Arizona for the 36-hole lead at 8-under par and pulled away from the field by carding a 7-under 281 in their final round to earn their second conference title in the last three years and ninth overall.
Behind final rounds of 68 from Christine Wang, a third-round substitute for Brianna Navarossa, and 69 from Amari Avery, the Trojans finished the tournament at 15-under 849, seven strokes ahead of defending Pac-12 champion Oregon and eight clear of Stanford, which finished third at 7-under 857.
Arizona, which had played steady golf for two days and entered the final day tied for the lead, slipped to fourth after a final round of 9-over 297 left the 'Cats 16 back of the Trojans.
Avery's final round vaulted her into a tie for third place with teammate Catherine Park at 4-under 212 while senior Malia Nam also finished in the top-10, tying for ninth at 2-under.
"We prepared really hard and really smart for this event and we're thrilled that the hard work was rewarded with another conference title," said Silverstein. "We have recruited very hard to get a bunch of depth on our roster and we were able to showcase that this week.
"We're going to enjoy this but also quickly turn our attention to the upcoming NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships."
Rose Zhang Oregon didn't let go of its title quietly, as the Ducks turned in the lowest round of the day at 6-under 282 to overtake Arizona and Stanford to finish second. Minori Nagano, the fifth player in Derek Radley's lineup, did most of the heavy lifting for Oregon with a final round 66 while the three other scoring players turned in even par rounds of 72.
On the day she broke Leonna Maguire's record for
most consecutive weeks ranked as the No. 1 female amateur in the world, Stanford's
Rose Zhang added the Pac-12 Conference individual title to her handsome trophy case as she completed a dominating wire-to-wire victory at Papago Park for her 10th collegiate victory.
The reigning NCAA and ANWA champion carded rounds of 67-68-69 to finish at 12-under 204 to tie the Pac-12 Conference scoring record. She finished seven strokes clear of Arizona State's Beth Coulter, which was the largest margin of victory in the history of the championship. The Stanford sophomore, who took a four-shot lead into the final round, finished seven strokes clear of Arizona State's Beth Coulter, marking the largest margin of victory in the history of the championship.
Zhang is the third Stanford player to win the conference's individual crown which marked her 10th collegiate victory in 18 career starts, which is a Stanford record.
Unfortunately for Stanford, Zhang was the only player to finish in the red over three days at Papago. Freshman Kelly Xu (74-71-71) finished tied for 17th at even par while the three other players in the Cardinal lineup were a combined 12-over.
The Pac-12 Conference figures to be well-represented in the NCAA Regionals when the field is announced next Wednesday.
ABOUT THE Pac-12 Women's Championship
54-hole stroke-play to decide the champion of the
Pacific Athletic Conference. Team (best four scores
out
of five players each round) and individual
competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information