Owen’s top-five finish leads Tigers’ women golf at Liz Murphey
ATHENS, Ga. (auburntigers.com) – Sophomore Michaela Owen earned a top-five finish in the stroke play portion of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, leading Auburn with a 71 (-1) Friday at the UGA Golf Course.
Owen posted her second round under par this season and earned the best medal play finish of her collegiate career. Shaking off an opening bogey at No. 14 (play began with a shotgun start), she quickly got to red figures with birdies at the 16th and 17th to head to the front side at 1-under. Bogeys at Nos. 1 and 7 and birdies at holes 2, 5 and 9 got her to 2-under with three holes to play, and a bogey at No. 10 was the only remaining blemish on her round. She tied for fourth place, the best by an Auburn golfer this season.
Senior Jamie Yun recorded a strong round of 75 (+3) to tie for 29th, and fellow senior Alex Harrell posted a 76 (+4) to tie for 38th. It was the best finish of the season for Yun and the best of the spring season for Harrell.
As a team, the Tigers finished 11th in the stroke-play portion of the tournament at 303 (+15), one shot back of a tie for ninth with Duke and Arkansas. The Tigers will join No. 1 Duke, No. 7 Arkansas and Oregon State in a round-robin match-play competition Saturday and Sunday.
UCLA was the top-finishing team at 2-under, two shots ahead of host Georgia. UCLA’s Louise Ridderstrom was the medalist with a 68 (-4).
Auburn will play two matches Saturday. The Tigers will face Arkansas in the morning match, set to begin at 8:20 a.m. CT on the 10th tee. It will be Auburn and Duke in the afternoon match, which is set for a 1:20 p.m. CT start.
