No. 17 Sooners Open Spring Season in Puerto Rico

Feb. 12, 2011

No. 17 Women's Golf at Lady Puerto Rico Classic
Dates	Sunday, Feb. 13 - Tuesday, Feb. 15
Location	Rio Grande, P.R. \| River Course at the Rio Mar Beach Resort
Tee Times	Sunday: Shotgun start at 6 a.m. CT Monday: Shotgun start at 6 a.m. CT Tuesday: Shotgun start at 5:30 a.m. CT
Live Stats	Golfstat.com
Video	Drouin's Preview

NORMAN, Okla. - The No. 17 Oklahoma women's golf team tees off Sunday for the first time in 2011 at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. The three-day event will be played at the 6,300-yard, par-72 River Course at the Rio Mar Beach Resort in Rio Grande, P.R.

The Sooners enter the tournament ranked No. 17 in the NGCA Coaches Poll and No. 15 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings.

“It seems like we haven't competed in a long time, so I feel like the girls are excited to get back in the routine,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin. “It's always fun to go down to Puerto Rico and play in such a great event.”

The 54-hole tournament boasts five other top-25 teams in its 18-team field: No. 24 Oregon, No. 16 Auburn, No. 10 Georgia, No. 6 Purdue and No. 1 Alabama. Big 12 schools Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech will also compete.

“This is one of the strongest fields we'll face this season,” said Drouin. “It should give us a good indication of where we are as a team.”

OU freshman Chirapat “Ja” Jao-Javanil will lead the Sooners at the No. 1 position for the first time of her career. The Thailand native recorded top-15 finishes in all four of her fall tournaments, including two in the top eight. Her 73.58 stroke average is the second lowest on the team.

Senior Ellen Mueller, coming off of an individual title at the Dale McNamara Invitational in October, will start at the No. 2 position. The senior leads the Sooners with a 71.92 stroke average. She has finished in the top 11 in all four tournaments, including back-to-back top-three performances, and has shot below par in four of her last five rounds.

Mueller's 7-under-par 209 at the Dale McNamara broke the OU 54-hole record by two strokes. Her career-high first round score of 67 (-5) set a course record at The Patriot Golf Club and fell one stroke shy of tying the school record for best round score. After the performance, she was named Golfweek's Golfer of the Week and October's Big 12 Golfer of the Month.

Junior Brooke Collins will make her 2010-11 team debut, starting at the No. 3 position. Collins competed as an individual in the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in the fall, where she shot a 54-hole score of 240 (+24) to finish in 37th place. Collins placed in the top 10 twice in the 2009-10 season, including an eighth-place finish at the Texas A&M “Mo” Morial.

Competing at the No. 4 position is freshman Emily Collins. The Colleyville, Texas, native finished in the top eight twice in the fall and shot par or better in four of her 12 rounds. She holds a stroke average of 75.42.

Freshman Anne-Catherine Tanguay will complete the OU lineup at the No. 5 position. Tanguay's 74.17 stroke average is the third lowest on the team. She finished in the top 15 twice in the fall, including a third-place performance of 214 (-2) at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic, which represents the lowest 54-hole score by a freshman in program history.

Oklahoma enters the tournament coming off a victory at the Dale McNamara Invitational. The Sooners dominated the 16-team event, finishing 23 strokes better than second-place Oklahoma State and Texas. The win capped the Sooners' best fall season in school history. OU placed in the top three in all four of its fall tournaments, including second-place finishes at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic and the Johnie Imes Invitational.

The Lady Puerto Rico Classic will feature shotgun starts at 6 a.m. CT on Sunday and Monday and 5:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 17 Sooners Open Spring Season in Puerto Rico

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