Sooners Lead After Back Nine Comeback

NORMAN – No. 10 Oklahoma women's golf leads the Schooner Fall Classic in Norman after carding 16 birdies on the back nine. The Sooners tied a season-low round score of 277 (-7) at the par-71, 6,046 Belmar Golf Club.

Four of the five Sooners were above par when making the turn and OU was 5-over as a team through nine holes. Julienne Soo, Kaitlin Milligan and Valerie Tanguay all sunk at least four birdies a piece on the back nine to fuel the OU comeback.

“It was incredible round,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin-Luttrell. “We struggled on the front nine, got off to a bit of a slow start. Obviously we play here all the time and playing at home can be tough. You put a little bit of pressure on yourself and want to do well. At the turn, they were able to turn it around and build some momentum off of each other. When one of the girls started making birdies it seemed like everyone else did the same.”

The Sooners lead Texas A&M (278) by one stroke and are four strokes ahead of third-place No. 3 Alabama (281) – the highest-ranked team in the field.

Milligan, making her first collegiate start, is in a four-way tie for first place after shooting a 4-under 67. A Norman native and graduate of Norman North High Schoool, Milligan birdied four of her final six holes.

Soo is one stroke behind her teammate in the player leaderboard, standing in a tie for fifth place after scoring a 68 (-3). The junior from Australia has shot a 68 in all four rounds of the season.

Tanguay sat at 3-over when making the turn before going bogey-free and recording four birdies on the back nine. Her 1-under 70 has her in 13th place.

Redshirt freshman Sydney Youngblood started her round 3-over through two holes, but fought back the remainder of the day to finish just 1-over with a 72 (tied for 29th place). Senior Ana Ruiz is tied for 42nd after shooting a 74 (+3).

Senior Hannah Wood led a trio of Sooners competing individually, shooting a 68 (-3) to end the day tied for fifth. Junior Karen Arimoto is tied for 34th with a 73 (+2) and freshman Hannah Lee is tied for 66th after producing a 77 (+6).

Oklahoma is back in action for the second round on Sunday beginning at 10:40 a.m. Live results are available on BirdieFire.com.

Players Mentioned

Karen Arimoto

Karen Arimoto

Hannah Lee

Hannah Lee

Kaitlin Milligan

Kaitlin Milligan

Ana Ruiz

Ana Ruiz

Julienne Soo

Julienne Soo

Valerie Tanguay

Valerie Tanguay

Hannah Wood

Hannah Wood

Sydney Youngblood

Sydney Youngblood

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics