April 22, 2011

Big 12 First Round Results Get Acrobat Reader

COLUMBIA, Mo. --- Texas A&M freshman Katerina Ruzickova grabbed a share of the individual lead and the defending champion Aggies were four shots off the pace after a stormy opening round of the 2011 Big 12 Women's Golf Championships on Friday at The Club at Old Hawthorne.

The No. 43-ranked Ruzickova, from Ostrava, Czech Republic, closed her round with a clutch birdie to finish the first day with a 1-under par 71 and stands in a five-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. Ruzickova offset three bogeys with four birdies to go along with 11 pars. She shared the first day lead with Deborah DeVilla of Texas Tech, Chirapat Jao-Javanil of Oklahoma, Hannah Lovelock of Missouri and Madison Pressel of Texas.

"Kat bogeyed the 17th by hitting the par putt a little hard, but then had that look in her eye on the 18th tee," Aggie head coach Trelle McCombs said. "She bombed a drive then hit her approach to about five feet and made the putt. It was so clutch and gave the girls a boost for tomorrow."

After a day of battling severe thunderstorms and a couple of weather delays, the Aggies were tied for fifth after shooting a 10-over par 298. A&M finished the day behind Texas Tech (+6), No. 20 Texas (+8), Nebraska (+9) and Missouri (+9), and tied with Oklahoma at 10-over. Rounding out the standings were No. 15 Iowa State (+12), Baylor (+13), Kansas (+14), Oklahoma State (+14), Colorado (+14) and Kansas State (+21).

"Weather wasn't that big of a factor for us," McCombs said. "The entire field was delayed from the start. We didn't do anything different. The delay later in the round was actually good for us because it allowed us to come back to the clubhouse, regroup and hit the reset button. After that we were ready to finish."

Sophomore Sara Beth Davis was tied for 18th after a 3-over 75, and senior Sarah Zwartynski, sophomore Susy Grunden and freshman Natalie Reeves were all tied for 30th after rounds of 76.

"Overall we are in a great place right now," McCombs said. "We know we played mediocre today and that if we play the way we know how to play tomorrow, we will be in a great position to make a move on Sunday."

The Aggies will continue their pursuit of the 2011 Big 12 team title at 9 a.m. on Saturday when they tee off from the first hole with host Missouri and Oklahoma.