No. 1 USC Bound For NCAA Championships
May 13, 2011 | Women's Golf
May 13, 2011
Postseason Notes in PDF Format 
The USC women's golf team, ranked No. 1 by Golfweek.com and Golf World and featuring three of the nation's top 6 ranked golfers, takes a two-event win streak into the 2011 NCAA Championships at Texas A&M's Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, May 18-21.
The 2003 and 2008 NCAA champions, USC is coming off of back-to-back wins at the 2011 Pac-10 Championships and the 2011 NCAA West Regional. The wins were its third and fourth this year. Troy has not finished lower than third in any of its 10 events.
The 24-team NCAA Championship field includes No. 1 USC, No. 3 Alabama, No. 9 Arizona, No. 11 Arizona State, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 6 California, No. 40 Coastal Carolina, No. 19 Florida, No. 5 LSU, No. 39 Minnesota, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 23 Notre Dame, No. 30 Ohio State, No. 4 Purdue, No. 34 South Carolina, No. 28 Stanford, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 26 Texas A&M, No. 24 UC Davis, No. 2 UCLA, No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 7 Virginia, No. 14 Wake Forest and No. 41 Washington.
After practice rounds on Monday and Tuesday (May 16-17), USC will begin the championships paired with fellow regional winners UCLA and Alabama. The trio's tee times run from 12:30 p.m. to 1:14 p.m. CDT. Tee times begin at 8 a.m. for each of the four rounds.
USC may again be without junior Lisa McCloskey (ranked No. 6 in the country) as she continues to recover from a rib injury suffered at the Pac-10 Championships. Junior Inah Park, who filled in for McCloskey at in USC's recent Regional win and who has played in the last two NCAA Championships, will take her spot if needed.
Click here for the 2011 NCAA Women's Golf Championships home page.
Click here for live stats at NCAA.com.
A Brief Overview
The Women of Troy, under 15th-year head coach Andrea Gaston, are challenging for the program's third NCAA title despite losing a pair of All-Americans from last year's NCAA second-place team, Belen Mozo and Jennifer Song. Including the 2003 and 2008 NCAA titles, USC has finished in the NCAA Championships' top 4 five years in a row and in six of the past eight years. In fact, the Trojans, who finished second in 2010 and third in 2009, have now reached the NCAA Championships 14 times in a row under Gaston and have been in the top 8 nine times.
Featured on this year's USC squad is three-time All-American senior Lizette Salas (ranked second nationally), part of USC's 2008 title team, as well as junior transfer McCloskey (ranked sixth), an All-American at Pepperdine the last two years. Both players are among Golf World's "Top 10 Women's Golf Collegiate Players to Watch" in 2010-11. Freshman Sophia Popov (ranked third) has come on strong in the spring and boasts an incredible eight straight top 7 finishes. All three were named 2011 All-Pac-10 first teamers. For Salas, it was her third such nod in a row.
USC is coming off of six straight top 2 finishes, which includes four wins and two second-place finishes. Its first win was a two-stroke victory at the 2011 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (its second straight title at the event) and was followed by a four-shot win at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate. USC then tied for second at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo and took second at the PING/ASU Invitational (albeit without McCloskey in the lineup).
Troy next won the 2011 Pac-10 title (its fourth in program history) at even 864 (282-291-291). Popov won the individual title in a playoff while Salas and Cyna Rodriguez tied for sixth and Rachel Morris tied for 29th. USC claimed the title despite playing without McCloskey in the final round, who was out with a rib injury. Troy made it back-to-back wins for the second time this season with a wire-to-wire victory at the NCAA West Regionals at 2-over 866 (288-284-294), doing it again without McCloskey. USC's pair of back-to-back wins marked the first time it had won consecutive titles since finishing the 2008 season with four straight victories, culminated with its second NCAA title. In all, USC has four firsts, three seconds, two thirds and a tie for third.
USC NCAA Championships History
USC has won NCAA titles in 2003 and 2008. The Trojans finished six strokes ahead of UCLA in 2008 and were 15 strokes better than second-place Pepperdine in 2003 ... This is USC's 24th overall NCAA Championship final appearance and 14th in a row, all under 15th-year head coach Andrea Gaston. In addition to winning two titles, the Trojans have three times finished second (2010, 2006 and 1994) and also finished third in 2009 and 1986, fourth in 2007, 2000 and 1987 and fifth in 1993. The Trojans' second-place finish last year was by just one stroke ... USC has won three NCAA individual titles, including Jennifer Rosales in 1998, Mikaela Parmlid in 2003 (in a one-hole playoff) and Dewi Claire Schreefel in 2006. USC's three individual title winners ties it for third most in NCAA history with Duke. Arizona State has five and Arizona has four ... In addition to its three individual champions, USC players have posted nine other top five finishes. Jennifer Song (2009) was second, Paola Moreno (2007) tied for second, Irene Cho (2003), Candie Kung (2001) and Dana Arnold (1990) all tied for third, Jill McGill (1994) and Belen Mozo (2008) finished fourth, Rosales tied for fourth (1999) and Leila Chartrand (2000) and Song (2010) tied for fifth ... The NCAA title in 2008 was USC's fourth consecutive tournament win at the time, a first in program history ... USC had five All-Americans in 2008 for the first time in school history (Dewi Claire Schreefel, Paola Moreno, Belen Mozo, Stefanie Endstrasser, Lizette Salas) ... In 1998, Rosales was 9-under par after three rounds, tying for the best score in NCAA Championship history through three rounds ... USC's best combined round at an NCAA Championship is 282, set in last year's first round at Country Club of Landfall Dye Course in Wilmington, N.C. ... Troy's best individual round at an NCAA Championships is 66, carded by Jennifer Rosales during her title run in 1998.
USC at the 2010 NCAA Championships
USC came ever-so-close to claiming its third NCAA crown in 2010, but fell one stroke short of first-place Purdue. Sophomore Jennifer Song had a 12-foot birdie putt to send USC into a playoff, but it skirted by the hole as USC finished second at 2-over 1154 to Purdue's 1153. Troy began the final round behind by seven strokes and slowly closed the gap as the round progressed. The Trojans edged ahead briefly midway through the back nine, but Purdue regained the lead with a handful of holes to play and ultimately held off USC. Song was USC's high finisher with a tie for fifth at 5-under 283 (67-71-72-73) a year after she was second. Senior Belen Mozo tied for 21st at 4-over 292 (73-72-76-71), Lizette Salas tied for 27th at 5-over 293 (74-73-72-74). Cyna Rodriguez tied for 33rd at 6-over 294 (68-72-83-71) and Inah Park tied for 86th at 16-over 304 (77-78-75-74).
USC Stat Notes
Dating back to last season, USC has posted 12 consecutive top 3 finishes and 15 in a row in the top 4. In fact, since the start of the 2007-2008 season, USC has finished outside the top 4 only four times in 43 events, posting 13 tournament wins in the process ... Senior Lizette Salas has 14 career rounds in the 60s (including four this year), which is second all-time at USC behind Jennifer Song's school-record 15. Freshman Sophia Popov currently has seven this season, one off the school season-record shared by Song and Irene Cho (Song's eight is also the USC freshman record) ... Salas' stroke average this year (71.59) is currently second-best in program history behind Song's freshman (71.55) mark and just ahead of Song's sophomore (71.65) effort. Popov's 71.85 currently places her fifth-best ever at USC ... USC golfers have posted a combined 22 top 10 finishes this season and have had another 10 top 20 efforts ... USC set the school record for low team round (best four of five) with a 275 final round at the 2010 Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational. The previous record was 278, set twice in 2009 and earlier this fall. The 275 came in part thanks to Lisa McCloskey's 64, tying the school record by Irene Cho at the 2006 Guadalajara Invitational. It broke USC's best round by a Trojan on American soil, which belonged to Salas, who had a 65 at the 2009 Pac-10 Championships at the Stanford G.C.
Lizette Salas
Senior Lizette Salas, a 2011 All-Pac-10 first teamer for the third year in a row who is working to become USC's first-ever four-time All-American, is having another great season with seven top 7 finishes and eight in the top 14 in nine starts. Salas, ranked No. 2 in the country by Golfweek.com, leads USC in stroke average at 71.59, which would be good enough for second-best all-time at USC. She opened the season with a third at the 2010 Fall Preview with a 6-under 210 (70-70-70) and finished second at the Edean Ihlanfeldt at 7-under 209 (71-71-67) ... Salas began the spring season with a tie for seventh at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at 8-over 221 (71-77-73) and tied for 14th at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at 1-over 217 (74-74-69). She then tied for second at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo with a 1-under 215 (73-71-71), tied for sixth at the PING/ASU at 1-over 217 (70-73-74) and tied for sixth at the Pac-10 Championships at 1-over 217 (72-73-72). She posted her third second-place finish at the NCAA West Regionals at 3-under 213 (73-67-73) ... She has 14 career rounds in the 60s (including four this year), one off Jennifer Song's school record (15).
Lisa McCloskey
Lisa McCloskey, ranked No. 6 in the country by Golfweek.com, got off to a fast start as a Trojan with six top 11 finishes this season and earned 2011 All-Pac-10 first team honors. She tied for fourth at the 2010 Fall Preview at 5-under 211 (74-70-67), tied for fourth again at the Mason Rudolph Championship at 7-under 209 (70-72-67), finished fourth at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational at 5-under 211 (72-75-64) and tied for 10th at the Pac-10/SEC Challenge at 3-over 216 (69-73-74) to finish the fall campaign ... She opened spring play with a tie for 11th at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at 9-over 222 (73-72-77) and tied for seventh at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at 1-under 215 (73-70-72) ... Her final round 64 at the Edean Ihlanfeldt, which included nine birdies and one bogey, tied Irene Cho's school record set at the 2006 Guadalajara Invitational. It broke USC's best round by a Trojan on American soil, which belonged to Salas, who had a 65 at the 2009 Pac-10 Championships at the Stanford G.C. ... McCloskey is tied for second on the team with four rounds in the 60s ... She played as an amateur in the LPGA's 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship, though she missed the cut ... McCloskey had to withdraw from final round of the 2011 Pac-10 Championships due to a rib injury, which also kept her out of the 2011 NCAA Regionals. She is still questionable for next week's NCAA Championships.
Sophia Popov
Sophia Popov, a German native who won the 2010 International European Ladies Amateur Championship, is arguably the top freshman in the country and ranked No. 3 by Golfweek.com after eight straight top 7 finishes and three wins. Already tabbed a 2011 All-Pac-10 first teamer, her first title this year came at the Pac-10/SEC Challenge when she fired a 6-under 207 (72-68-67). She complemented the win with a title at the PING/ASU Invitational with a 5-under 211 (69-71-71). She notched her third individual crown this year at the Pac-10 Championships when, after tying for first at 6-under 210 (69-71-70) with UCLA's Tiffany Lua, she won in a one-hole playoff ... Popov's string of top 7 finishes began with a fifth-place finish at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational at 2-under 214 (68-74-72). She then notched her first win and posted a tie for seventh at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at 8-over 221 (74-74-73) and another tie for seventh at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Invitational at 1-under 215 (74-72-69). She then tied for fifth at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo with a 3-over 219 (74-73-72) before the PING/ASU win. At the NCAA West Regionals, she was third at 1-under 215 (69-73-73)... She has a team-best seven rounds in the 60s, one off the school season-record.
Cyna Rodriguez
Sophomore Cyna Rodriguez, a 2010 and 2011 Pac-10 honorable mention selection ranked No. 41 in the country, has a four top 20 finishes and has nine top 31 efforts in a team-high 10 outings...Rodriguez posted a career-best tie for sixth at the Pac-10 Championships at 1-over 217 (69-72-76) ... She tied for 16th at both the Edean Ihlanfeldt at 5-over 221 (76-73-72) and at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at 11-over 224 (74-74-76) and tied for 19th at the PING/ASU Invitational at 5-over 221 (74-69-78). She tied for 30th at 4-over 220 (72-70-78) at the Fall Preview, tied for 26th at the Mason Rudolph Championship at par 216 (72-72-72) and tied for 24th at the Pac-10/SEC Challenge at 9-over 222 (76-73-73). At the NCAA West Regional, she tied for 25th at 10-over 226 (79-73-74).
Rachel Morris
Freshman Rachel Morris, another top amateur who joined the Trojans this year, has four top 20 finishes and seven in the top 34. She posted a season-best tie for seventh at the NCAA West Regional at 2-over 218 (73-71-74). She was 18th at the Mason Rudolph Championship at par 216 (73-72-71), tied for 16th at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at 11-over 224 (78-71-75) and tied for 19th at the PING/ASU Invitational with a 5-over 221 (71-71-79) ... At the 2011 Pac-10 Championships, she tied for 29th at 12-over 228 (76-79-73) ... She also tied for 36th at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at 8-over 224 (76-75-73) and tied for 34th at the Battle at Rancho Bernardo.
Inah Park
Junior Inah Park has four top 27 finishes this season, highlighted by a tie for 11th at the Edean Ihlanfeldt at 3-over 219 (74-71-74) and a tie for 17th at the NCAA West Regional at 7-over 223 (73-74-76). She tied for 23rd at 1-under 215 (71-75-69) at the Mason Rudolph Championship and opened the spring season with a tie for 27th at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.
Season Recaps
NCAA Fall Preview
Lizette Salas finished third and Lisa McCloskey tied for fourth, leading the pre-season No. 1 USC women's golf team to third place in an NCAA Championships-caliber field at the 2010 Texas A&M Fall Preview at the Traditions G.C. in College Station, Texas. USC finished in third at 8-under 856 (289-282-285), seven back of first-place Alabama (849) and six behind second-place LSU (850). Duke was fourth (860) while Georgia was fifth (864) in the 18-team field. Salas fired her third consecutive 2-under 70 to finish at 6-under 210, four back of individual winner Megan McChrystal (206). McCloskey finished at 5-under 211 (74-70-67).
Mason Rudolph Championship
Lisa McCloskey notched her then-best round as a Trojan while Lizette Salas was under par for the second straight day as No. 1 USC combined for the low round of the day and finished tied for third at the 2010 Mason Rudolph Championship at the Legends G.C. in Nashville, Tenn. USC tied with UCLA at 13-under 851 (286-287-278), eight strokes behind LSU (843), which led the entire event. Purdue, defending NCAA champion, was second (845). McCloskey began the day tied for 20th but her 5-under 67, which included six birdies against only a bogey on 16, enabled her to climb north to tie for fourth at 7-under 209 (70-72-67). Salas, meanwhile, tied for 21st at 2-under 214 (76-68-70) after a four-birdie, two-bogey outing,
Edean Ihlanfeldt
Lisa McCloskey tied USC's record for low round with an 8-under 64 while Lizette Salas carded a 5-under 67 as the No. 2 Women if Troy put together a furious rally to come within two strokes of first place on the final day of the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational on at the Tacoma (Wash.) Country and Golf Club. Troy also shattered its school-record for low combined round with a 13-under 275, three better than the previous mark of 278, which was done three times, most recently on Sept. 26 at the Mason Rudolph Championship. The Trojans entered the final day of play seven strokes back of conference rival Cal and made up most of the difference. But on a day when only three teams were under par, the Bears' 8-under was just good enough to stave off USC's record-setting performance.
Pac-10/SEC Challenge
Freshman Sophia Popov won her first career collegiate title and helped USC to third place at the Pac-10/SEC Challenge at the Stanford G.C. on Sunday (Nov. 7). USC, playing without senior Lizette Salas, still finished a solid 23-over 875 (294-291-290) for its fourth top 3 finish in as many outings. Popov, who started the day tied for fifth, won at 6-under 207 (72-68-67), one better than UCLA's Stephanie Kono (5-under). It was her second straight top 5 finish. She had five birdies against just one bogey during the round.
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Battling rainy weather and a sluggish start, the No. 2 USC women's golf team, led by senior Lizette Salas and freshman Sophia Popov, rallied midway through the final round -- from third to first -- to claim its second consecutive title at the 2011 Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. Troy finished at 32-over 884 (290-295-299), two strokes ahead of the Sun Devils (886) and three ahead of UCLA (887). Salas (71-77-73) and Popov (74-74-73) tied for seventh at 8-over 221.
Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate
A late surge from senior Lizette Salas and another strong effort from freshman Sophia Popov propelled the No. 2 USC women's golf team to its second consecutive victory on the final day of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate at the English Turn Golf & Country Club in New Orleans, La. USC began the round four strokes back of No. 1 Alabama and still trailed heading into the back 9, but a rally led by Salas helped the Trojans pass the Crimson Tide over the final holes. Troy won at 4-over 868 (297-289-282) with Alabama four back at 872 (295-287-290). Host Tulane tied with No. 6 Duke (879) while No. 7 Purdue and No. 8 Virginia tied for fifth (880). Popov (74-72-69) and junior Lisa McCloskey (73-70-72) tied for seventh at 1-under 215. It was Popov's fourth straight top 10 finish and McCloskey's sixth top 11 finish in as many events this year.
Battle at Rancho Bernardo
Senior Lizette Salas tied for second and freshman Sophia Popov tied for sixth as No. 1 USC finished second after the final round of the "The Battle at Rancho Bernardo Inn" event on Tuesday (March 22) at the Championship Golf Course at Ranch Bernardo Inn Golf Resort and Spa in San Diego, Calif. USC's two-match win streak was snapped, but it did post its seventh top 3 finish in as many events this year after taking second at 22-over 886 (299-295-292), seven back of first-place Purdue (879). Salas notched her third top 3 finish and fourth in the top 7 with a tie for second at 1-under 215 (73-71-71), six off the lead. During her final round, she was 1-under on the front 9 and even on the back with four birdies on the day.
PING/ASU Invitational
Freshman Sophia Popov won her second title of the season and helped USC's No. 1 women's golf team finish second overall at the 37th Annual PING/ASU Intercollegiate at the Karsten G.C. in Tempe, Ariz. USC, playing without junior Lisa McCloskey, finished four strokes out of first at 3-over 867 (281-284-302) after a 14-over final round. UCLA claimed first (863) with Arizona well back in third (878). The Trojans have now finished no lower than third in any event this season with two firsts, three seconds and three thirds. Popov, the only Trojan to post a win this season, finished at 5-under 211 (69-71-71) for a two-stroke win. The victory complemented her triumph at the Pac-10/SEC Challenge in November.
2011 Pac-10 Championships
Freshman Sophia Popov fired her third consecutive sub-par round to lead short-handed No. 1 USC to the 2011 Pac-10 Women's Golf Championship while also claiming the individual title in a one-hole playoff at the Karsten G.C. in Tempe, Ariz. The Trojans lost highly ranked junior Lisa McCloskey for the final day due to a rib injury, forcing the squad to play without the luxury of dropping its low score for the round. Despite the handicap, USC led for almost the entire final round en route to a five-stroke win for the program's fourth conference crown. Troy, which began the day with a seven-stroke cushion, finished the 54-hole event at even 864 (282-291-291), five better than second-place Arizona (869) and nine better than third-place UCLA (873). Senior Lizette Salas and sophomore Cyna Rodriguez tied for sixth.
2011 NCAA West Regional
Senior Lizette Salas and freshmen Sophia Popov and Rachel Morris finished second, third and tied for seventh, respectively, as the No. 1 USC women's golf team ran away with the 2011 NCAA West Regional title at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash. The Trojans won their second straight regional crown, their fifth in the last six years and their seventh overall, which ties Duke for most in the country. In a 24-team field, USC completed the wire-to-wire win at 2-over 866 (288-284-294), registering the day's best round for the third day in a row in poor weather conditions . Playing without injured junior Lisa McCloskey, who was ranked in the top five nationally, the Trojans did not skip a beat. Much of the credit went to junior Inah Park, who subbed for McCloskey and played some of her best golf of the season.
Players Mentioned
