Sooners Finish Sixth in Season Opener

	Team	1	2	3	Total
1.	Oklahoma State	274	287	283	844
2.	Arizona State	284	281	288	853
3.	Baylor	282	289	283	854
4.	Northwestern	287	287	281	855
5.	Arizona	290	287	284	861

	OU Players	1	2	3	Total
8.	Hannah Wood	72	70	67	209
T37.	Valerie Tanguay	74	73	72	219
T37.	Ana Ruiz	77	68	74	219
T47.	Sydney Youngblood	73	74	74	221
T55.	Julienne Soo	71	76	76	223

NORMAN – The University of Oklahoma women's golf team finished the season-opening Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational in sixth place on Tuesday. The 16-team event was played at the par-72, 6,317-yard University Course in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Sooners completed the second round in the morning with a 285 (-3) before logging their second under-par round of the tournament in the afternoon (287;-1) to finish at 862 (-2), the seventh-lowest 54-hole score in program history and the best since the 2014 squad registered an 861 at the 2014 Big 12 Championship.

“I'm proud of how we played this week,” OU head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell said. “I learned a lot about the girls and their commitment to this team. They've all been putting a lot of work into their games and it's paying off for us. I saw a lot of great things from each player, and we are excited to come home for our next tournament.”

No. 9 Oklahoma State finished in first place with an 844 (-20), and No. 2 Arizona State came in second with an 853 (-11). Baylor rounded out the top three, shooting an 854 (-10).

Hannah Wood led the Sooners once again, firing a 67 (-5) in the tournament's final round to finish in eighth place out of 93 competitors at 209 (-7). The score matched her career-best 54-hole mark, which was set her freshman season when she won the 2015 Clover Cup. The junior used three par-or-better rounds for the 209 score, which is the second-best three-round total in OU program history.

Juniors Ana Ruiz and Valerie Tanguay bounced back from struggling in their opening rounds to finish in a share of 37th place at 219 (+3). Ruiz fired a career-best 68 (-4) in the morning's second round and followed with a 74 (+2) in the final frame. Tanguay posted a 73 (+1) in the second round before finishing with an even-par 72 in the afternoon.

Sydney Youngblood put together a solid start for her collegiate career, sharing 47th place with a 221 (+5). The freshman recorded a 74 (+2) in both of the final two rounds of the tournament.

Sophomore Julienne Soo completed both the second and final rounds of the tournament with a 76 (+4). Soo finished with a 223 (+7) to tie for 55th place.

The Sooners take the weekend off before returning to the course for their only home tournament of the year. The Schooner Fall Classic is slated for Sept. 24-26 at the Belmar Golf Club in Norman.

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Players Mentioned

Ana Ruiz

Julienne Soo

Valerie Tanguay

Hannah Wood

Sydney Youngblood

Sponsors

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