No. 20 Sooners to Face Strong Field in Georgia

March 31, 2011

No. 20 Women's Golf at Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
Dates	Friday, April 1 - Sunday, April 3
Location	Athens, Ga. \| University of Georgia Golf Course
Tee Times	Round One: Friday at 8:30 a.m. (CT) Round Two: Saturday at 8:30 a.m. (CT) Round Three: Sunday at at 8:00 a.m. (CT)
Live Stats	Golfstat.com
Video	Drouin's Preview

NORMAN, Okla. – Coming off of two straight under-par tournament finishes, the 20th-ranked Oklahoma women's golf team heads to Athens, Ga., April 1-3 (Friday-Sunday) for its toughest challenge yet this season, the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.

The 23-team tournament, to be played at the par-72 University of Georgia Golf Course, features a prestigious field that boasts 14 top-25 teams, including five in the top 10.

“It's going to be tough,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin. “It's definitely one of the best fields we're going to see this season. That being said, I'm really proud of how strong our girls have been playing these past few tournaments and am confident they can carry that momentum into the Liz Murphey.”

The stacked list of opponents isn't the only challenge awaiting the Sooners. The Liz Murphey will also feature a unique format in which all five competitors from each school will play together (as opposed to seeded players from three or four teams playing together). A team's score for each hole will be determined by the lowest four scores on that hole.

Competing at the No. 1 position for the fourth straight tournament is freshman Chirapat “Ja” Jao-Javanil. The freshman is coming off a sixth-place showing at last week's MountainView Collegiate and has recorded four top-10 finishes this season. Jao-Javanil has yet to finish outside of the top 15 in her collegiate career (seven tournaments).

Junior Brooke Collins will take the No. 2 position after tying for eighth place at the MountainView Collegiate. The junior is averaging a below-par stroke average of 71.83 in her past two tournaments.

Senior Ellen Mueller will start at the No. 3 position. Mueller leads the Sooners with a 72.57 season stroke average and five top-10 finishes this year.

Freshmen Emily Collins and Anne-Catherine Tanguay round out the Sooner lineup in the No. 4 and 5 positions, respectively. Each tied for 12th place at the MountainView Collegiate.

Drouin said her squad looks forward to the challenge of the Liz Murphey's tough field and new format and is privileged to participate as the only Big 12 team in the tournament.

“The Liz Murphey is mainly known as an East Coast event,” said Drouin. “It's a great honor to be invited and represent the Big 12. We'll compare ourselves with the teams from the east and go from there.”

Oklahoma's back-to-back below-par performances at the UNLV Spring Invitational and MountainView Collegiate are the only two times in school history the Sooners have finished under par in a three-round tournament. OU has placed in the top three in six of its seven tournaments this year and has finished in the top two four times.

Drouin, who was formerly an assistant coach at Georgia, is coaching in Athens for the first time since taking over the OU program in 2009. Her alma mater, Kent State, is also competing in the event.

The Sooners will tee off the 54-hole tournament with a shotgun start on hole No. 15 Friday at 8:30 a.m. CT. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic Field:

No. 3 Alabama
No. 4 Purdue
No. 5 LSU
No. 7 Duke
No. 8 Virginia
No. 12 Wake Forest
No. 15 Arkansas
No. 17 North Carolina
No. 18 Georgia
No. 20 Oklahoma
No. 21 Auburn
No. 22 Michigan State
No. 23 Florida
No. 25 Notre Dame
No. 28 Chattanooga
No. 30 Florida State
No. 31 Ohio State
No. 33 Kent State
No. 36 South Carolina
Furman
Georgia State
Kennesaw State
Kentucky

University of Oklahoma Athletics

No. 20 Sooners to Face Strong Field in Georgia

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