Senior Tiffany Chan and freshman Muni He birdied their last holes to lift second-ranked USC to a one-stroke victory over Arizona State in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at Palos Verdes Golf Club.
USC, which put six players in the top 24 places of the individual standings, claimed its second victory of the season and won the Northrop Grumman for the fourth time with a tournament record score of 285-282-289–856, 4-over-par, followed by the Sun Devils at 293-282-282–857, Duke at 287-287-285–859, Florida at 290-275-295–860 and Alabama at 296-284-287–867.
UNLV was sixth at 292-286-295–873, followed by Northwestern at 302-283-292–877.
San Diego State totaled 301-284-294–879 to tie for eighth with Arizona, which finished at 293-295-291–879, and UCLA was 10th at 280-299-303–882.
Cal tied for 11th at 297-291-297–885.
“The girls persevered today,” USC Coach Andrea Gaston said. “They stayed in the game. Each day we had a rough start, but it’s not always how you start, it’s how you finish. I’m really proud of them. This is a hard course and you have to stay patient and present.”
Leona Maguire of Duke posted a score of 68-71-70–209, 4-under, and tied for the individual title with Taylor Tomlinson of Florida, who shot 71-69-69–209, and Mackenzie Raim of UNLV, who came in at 72-68-69-209.
Kelly Grassel was fourth at 69-68-73–210, while Haley Moore of Arizona carded a score of 72-71-69–212 to tie for fifth with Lauren Stephenson of Alabama, who finished at 72-67-73–212.
Senior Victoria Morgan of USC shot 70-72-71–213 to tie for seventh with Ana Belac of Duke, who totaled 71-71-71–213, Sirene Blair of San Diego State, who finished at 76-66-71–213, and Virginia Elena Carta of Duke, who came in at 73-69-71–213.
“None of us had our A games this week, more like B games,” said Morgan, a senior from Pasadena. “But we all grinded it out, stayed focused and put together a great team win.”
Sophomore Robynn Ree led the rest of the Trojans in a tie for 14th at 68-70-78–216, senior Gabriella Then shot 73-71-74–218 and finished in a tie for 17th that included senior Tiffany Chan, who totaled 74-70-74–218, while He wound up at 78-71-70–219 and finished in a tie for 24th that included freshman Allisen Corpuz, who came in at 71-75-73–219.
Maria Herraez Galvez led Cal in a tie for 14th at 73-70-73–216, while UCLA was led by three players who tied for 24th, Lilia Vu at 69-75-75–219, Mariel Galdiano at 69-77-73–219 and Bethany Wu at 72-70-77–219.
