Women's golf wins Wildcat Invitational
With four top 10 finishers, the No. 1 Arizona State women's golf team cruised to a victory at the Wildcat Invitational. Held at the par 71, 6,166-yard Arizona National, the Sun Devils finished on top of the leaderboard by 12 strokes over runner-up Arizona. The team fired off an 8-over 576 (290-286) to win their third Wildcat Invitational title. ASU has previously won the tournament in 2006 and 2007. This is the Sun Devils third tournament win of the season as they also placed first in the TOPY Cup and at the Stanford Intercollegiate.
"We are very happy," said eighth year head coach Melissa Luellen. "It was a lot of fun and great to have four finish in the top 10. There were some tough conditions and it was a bit of a survival task. We wanted to win down here and get the job done and we are very happy we did just that."
Juliana Murcia continued her stellar senior play as she finished the tournament tied for second. Murcia shot a 4-under 67 in the final round, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. She finished the tournament carding a 1-under 141 (74-67).
"July just played awesome," said Luellen. "She just displayed tremendous senior leadership and it was a lot of fun to watch."
Jennifer Johnson recorded her fourth top 10, and first top five, performance of the season. With an even par second round, Johnson shot a 2-over 144 (73-71) to tie for fourth. Carlota Ciganda placed in the top 10 for the fourth time this season as she tied for seventh with a 3-over 145 (71-74). Jaclyn Sweeney notched the third top 10 placing of her junior season after shooting 4-over 146 (72-74) over the two rounds to finish tied for 10th.
Giulia Molinaro rounded out the Sun Devils lineup carding an 18-over 160 (83-77). Playing as an individual, Larissa Eruera shot a 12-over 154 (79-75).
The Sun Devils will compete at the Bruin/Wave Invitational next weekend in Canyon County, Calif. The tournament begins Monday and concludes Wednesday.