University Southern California Trojans
No. 1 USC Begins Title Push At NCAA West Regional
May 02, 2011 | Women's Golf
May 2, 2011
The USC women's golf team, ranked No. 1 in Golfweek.com and No. 2 by Golf World while featuring three of the nation's top 4 ranked golfers, continues the postseason at the 2011 NCAA West Regional Championships, Thursday through Saturday (May 5-7), at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.
USC, fresh off claiming the 2011 Pac-10 Championships for its third win of the year, has not finished lower than third in any of its nine events.
The NCAA East, Central and West Regionals are each made up of 24 teams plus six individuals. The top eight teams plus two individuals from each field advance to the championship round, scheduled for May 17-20 at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M.
Action at the West Regional will begin at 8 a.m. each day with tee times off holes 1 and 10 with the last golfers teeing off at approximately 2:10 p.m. The course is par 72 and 6,321 yards.
Click here for live results at Golfstat.com.
Click here for the NCAA West Regional home page.
Click here to participate in or follow along with a live chat about the regional.
The Trojans have had great success at the NCAA Regional events, winning in 1999 (West), 2003 (West), (2006 (Central), 2007 (Central) and 2008 (West) and 2010 (Central). USC is looking to advance out of the NCAA Regional for the 14th year in a row in its 20th consecutive NCAA appearance (the last 14 under 15th-year Head Coach Andrea Gaston).
USC will be without junior Lisa McCloskey (ranked No. 4 in the country) as she continues to recover from a rib injury suffered at the Pac-10 Championships. Junior Inah Park, who played in the NCAA Regionals and finals the past two years, will take her spot in the lineup.
The Women of Troy, under 15th-year head coach Andrea Gaston, have their sights set on 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 reached the NCAA Championships 13 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 third nationally), part of USC's 2008 title team, as well as junior transfer McCloskey (ranked fourth), 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 second) has come on strong in the spring with seven straight top 7 finishes. All were named 2011 All-Pac-10 first teamers. For Salas, it was her third such nod in a row.
USC is coming off of five straight top 2 finishes, which includes three 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). The previous back-to-back wins since finishing the 2008 season with four straight victories, culminated with its second NCAA title.
Troy then 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. In all, USC has three firsts, three seconds, two thirds and a tie for third.
USC Stat Notes
Dating back to last season, USC has posted 11 consecutive top 3 finishes and 14 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 42 events, posting 12 tournament win in the process ... Senior Lizette Salas has 13 career rounds in the 60s (including three this year), which is tied for second all-time at USC with Belen Mozo. Jennifer Song holds the record (15). Freshman Sophia Popov currently has six this season, two off the school shared by Jennifer Song and Irene Cho (Song's eight is also the USC freshman record) ... Salas' stroke average this year (71.67) is currently third best in program history by Song's freshman (71.55) and sophomore (71.65) efforts and just ahead of her own sophomore effort (71.82). Popov's 71.88 currently places her fifth-best ever at USC ... USC players have posted a combined 19 top 10 finishes this season and have had another nine 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-America, is having another great season with six top 7 finishes and seven in the top 14 in eight starts. Salas, ranked No. 3 in the country by Golfweek.com, leads USC in stroke average at 71.67, which would be good enough for third-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 has 13 career rounds in the 60s (including three this year), which is tied for second all-time at USC with Belen Mozo. Jennifer Song holds the record (15).
Lisa McCloskey
Lisa McCloskey, ranked No. 4 in the country by Golfweek.com, has got off to a fast start as a Trojan with six top 11 finishes this season, already earning 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 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 is also keeping her out of the 2011 NCAA Regionals.
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. 2 by Golfweek.com after seven 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... She has a team-best six rounds in the 60s.
Cyna Rodriguez
Sophomore Cyna Rodriguez, a 2010 and 2011 Pac-10 honorable mention selection ranked No. 40 in the country, has a four top 20 finishes and has eight top 31 efforts in a team-high nine 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).
Rachel Morris
Freshman Rachel Morris, another top amateur who joined the Trojans this year, has three top 20 finishes and six in the top 34. 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 three top 27 finishes this season, highlighted by a tie for 11th at the Edean Ihlanfeldt at 3-over 219 (74-71-74). 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.
Below is information on each regional. Conference automatic qualifiers are indicated in parenthesis next to the institution. The Pac-10, arguably the top conference in the country, received eight bids, including No. 1 seeds USC (West) and UCLA (Central), No. 3 seeds Arizona (West) and California (East) and No. 4 seed ASU (East).
EAST REGIONAL
The East regional will be played May 5-7 at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Greenville, N.C., hosted by Stetson University and the Central Florida Sports Commission.
Teams
1. Alabama
2. Purdue
3. California
4. Arizona State
5. Auburn (SEC)
6. Michigan State (Big Ten)
7. North Carolina (ACC)
8. Vanderbilt
9. Florida
10. Florida State
11. Colorado
12. TCU (MWC)
13. Louisville
14. Mississippi
15. Texas Tech
16. FIU
17. Coastal Carolina (Big South)
18. Augusta State
19. Yale (Ivy League)
20. Kentucky
21. Stetson (Atlantic Sun)
22. North Carolina Wilmington (Colonial Athletic Association)
23. Farleigh Dickinson (Northeast Conference)
24. Alabama State (SWAC)
Individuals
1. Shena Yang (South Florida)
2. Charlotte Lorentzen (Georgia State)
3. Stefanie Kenoyer (Furman)
4. Kelly Shon (Princeton)
5. Maria Ronderos (Miami)
6. Leigh Whittaker (College of Charleston)
Central Regional
The Central Regional will be played May 5-7 at the Warren Golf Course, in South Bend, Ind., hosted by Notre Dame.
Teams
1. UCLA
2. Duke
3. LSU
4. Arkansas
5. Wake Forest
6. Texas (Big 12)
7. Tulane
8. Stanford
9. Notre Dame (Big East)
10. Ohio State
11. Kent State (Mid-American)
12. Chattanooga (Southern)
13. Northwestern
14. Minnesota
15. UNLV
16. Oklahoma State
17. North Texas
18. Wisconsin
19. East Carolina
20. Michigan
21. Illinois
22. Morehead State (Ohio Valley Conference)
23. Illinois State (Missouri Valley)
24. Butler (Horizon League)
Individuals
1. Harin Lee (St. John's)
2. Lindsay Gahm (Indiana)
3. Bonnie Hu (Harvard)
4. Nina Muehl (E. Tennessee State)
5. Brittany Kelly (Ball State)
6. Britney Hamilton (Western Michigan).
West Regional
The West regional will be played May 5-7 at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash., hosted by Washington.
Teams
1. USC (Pac-10)
2. Virginia
3. Arizona
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
6. Pepperdine
7. Iowa State
8. UC Davis (Big West)
9. Texas A&M
10. Oklahoma
11. Oregon
12. South Carolina
13. Washington
14. Tulsa
15. Denver (Sun Belt)
16. San Diego State
17. BYU
18. New Mexico
19. UTSA (Southland)
20. Portland (Big Sky)
21. New Mexico State
22. San Jose State (WAC)
23. Oral Roberts (Summit League)
24. UTEP (C-USA)
Individuals
1. Kayla Moprtellaro (Idaho)
2. Teo Poplawski (Idaho)
3. Amy Anderson (North Dakota State)
4. Brianna Espinoza (Colorado State)
5. Jessica Hollandsworth (Maryland)
6. Chelsey Cothran (Baylor)
