The 14-team, 78-player field arrived at ASU Karsten Golf Course on Sunday morning with a sense of urgency. The overcast skies and chilled gusts of wind indicated the emergence of a storm cell rapidly approaching from the southwest.
No. 3 UCLA, No. 11 ASU, No. 1 Alabama and No. 17 UNLV in the top four spots on the leaderboard entering the final round. In an effort to complete the round ahead of the inclement weather, the four teams played at the same time.
The start was not ideal for the Sun Devils as both freshman Linnea Strom and sophomore Sophia Zeeb sunk bogeys on each of their opening holes of the final day. The strokes were soon made up by freshman Madison Kerley, who birdied the par-5 5th hole and par-4 8th en route to a front nine score of 34.
Kerley followed suite with a back nine score of 35 (-2), ultimately putting together one of the best rounds of the day at -3. She was able to bounce back from a first-round score of 79 by scoring 71 in the second and 69 in the third to place her in a tie for 14th place in her first career Ping/ASU Invitational.
Strom, who started the day in fourth place. continued to roll. She added a one-under score of 71 to put her in sole possession of 3rd place at a three round total of 211 (-5).
Despite this, she wasn't thrilled with her performance on the final day.
"I know that I left some shots out there, I didn't have my best putting today," Strom said.
However, she later added, "I'm happy with my game and I'm happy that I played under par (for the tournament)."
This is Strom's fifth top-ten finish of the year.
The day belonged to UCLA and junior Bronte Law (-12).
Propelled by her record-breaking first round score of 64, Law scored a 71 and 69 in her final two rounds. She broke the three-day tournament scoring record by two strokes, which had been previously held by ASU alumni Anna Nordqvist (-10).
Led by Law and freshman Lilia Vu (-9), UCLA cruised to six shot victory over the host school ASU.
The Sun Devils finished in second place for the fourth time this season. It's their sixth top-five finish of the year.
Strom spoke of her team and the work ethic that has been present the last few weeks.
"I still have a lot of things to work on like everyone does but I'm really excited for what this team can do and I know we can do so much better," she said.
This was the last tournament before the Pac-12 Championship in Pasadena, California. The Sun Devils begin the quest for the conference title on Monday, April 18.
Related links:
By the numbers: Everything you need to know before the PING/ASU Invitational
ASU women's golf finishes 6th at SDSU's March Mayhem
Reach the reporter at Braxton.Fox@asu.edu or follow @braxton_fox_II on Twitter.
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