Oct. 28, 2012
Austin, Texas -
Tulsa senior Shu-Yin Liu carded a four-under par 68 to take the individual lead after first round action at the 39th Annual Betsy Rawls Invitational on Sunday.
As a team, the Hurricane carded 10-over par 298 for seventh place at the par-72 University of Texas Golf Club in a 15-team field that includes 10 of the nation's top-40 ranked teams. Tenth-ranked Alabama sits in first place with a score of 284, followed by second-place and 19th-ranked Arkansas (288), 8th-ranked Arizona State (290), 4th-ranked Florida (293) and 28th-ranked Denver (294) rounding out the top-five teams.
Starting on hole 10, Liu went three-under par on her first nine holes with birdie putts on the par-5 14th hole, and back-to-back birdies on the par-3 16th and the par-4 17th hole. In a round that saw no bogeys from the senior, Liu closed out her first 18 holes with a birdie on the par-4 9th hole.
Liu leads a trio of golfers, including Alabama's Jennifer Kirby and Stephanie Morrow, and UCLA's Erynne Lee by one stroke.
Tulsa freshman Antonia Von Wnuck turned in a four-over par 76 and is in 39th place after the first 18 holes. Two more newcomers, Karson Bizzell and Jessica Lydia, carded scores of 77 and are tied for 54th place after the first day of competition.
Senior Kristina Merkle is in 72nd place after an opening score of 82.
The second round will be played on Monday, while the 54-hole tournament will close-out on Tuesday with the final 18 rounds
Team Results
1. Alabama 284
2. Arkansas 288
3. Arizona State 290
4. Florida 293
5. Denver 294
6. Texas 297
T7. Tulsa 298
T7. UNLV 298
9. Auburn 299
10. Kent State 300
11. UCLA 304
12. Pepperdine 307
13. TCU 311
14. Illinois 312
15. New Mexico 319
Tulsa Individual Results
1. Shu-Yin Liu 68
T39. Antonia Von Wnuck 76
T54. Karson Bizzell 77
T54. Jessica Lydia 77
T72. Kristina Merkle 82
Top-5 Individuals
1. Shu-Yin Liu, Tulsa 68 (-4)
T2. Jennifer Kirby, Alabama 69 (-3)
T2. Stephanie Meadow, Alabama 69 (-3)
T2. Erynne Lee, UCLA 69 (-3)
T5. Erin Hawe, Kent State 71 (-1)
T5. Camilla Hedberg, Florida 71 (-1)
T5. Grace Na, Pepperdine 71 (-1)
T5. Daniela Ordonez, Arizona St. 71 (-1)
T5. Bertine Strauss, Texas 71 (-1)
T5. Emily Tubert, Arkansas 71 (-1)
In eight years as a member of Conference USA, Tulsa athletic teams have won a league-best 48 conference championships.
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