By Shane Bacon
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday October 21, 2003
UA sophomore Erica Blasberg has been the No. 1-ranked golfer in the nation for most of her short collegiate career.
After her performance this weekend at the Stanford Women's Intercollegiate, it looks like she might be staying at the top for a while.
Blasberg shot a 7-under 209 to tie Duke's Elizabeth Janangelo atop the leader board.
The win completed the hat trick for Blasberg, who took home her third straight title this season.
"I played pretty well (all weekend)," she said. "It was good to put three under par rounds together in Stanford."
As a team, Arizona finished in sixth place at the Palo Alto, Calif., tournament, after finishing with a 14-over par total of 878 ÷ 33 shots behind eventual winner Duke.
Blasberg, from Corona, Calif., carded her fifth collegiate victory and extended her streak of top-10 finishes to 13 straight tournaments, dating back to last year.
The win was especially gratifying for Blasberg because it was the site of Blasberg's first career win nearly a year ago.
The weekend tournament was the second this season to end in a tie, along with Blasberg's win at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational.
"I was upset because when you tie, you're supposed to play it out," Blasberg said. "I understand though, because in college all the teams are trying to catch flights."
The Wildcats found themselves in a hole after the first round. After falling 12 shots back of Washington ÷ the eventual runner-up to Duke ÷ the Wildcats couldn't claw themselves out of the hole.
"As a team, we never got anything going that first day," said UA head coach Greg Allen. "We played OK, but didn't take advantage of the great scoring conditions."
Sophomore Whitney Welch ÷ fresh off her first top-10 finish of the year ÷ placed 30th after shooting a 5-over par 221. Transfer Lani Elston placed 33rd.
"Whitney and Lani played really well," Blasberg said. "They put scores together that really helped the team."
Blasberg, known for finishing her rounds strong, played her last six holes of the day 2-under but failed to convert on an 8-foot birdie putt that would have given her the tournament win outright.
"I missed an 8-foot putt for birdie on my last hole, number six," Blasberg said. "That hole is considered the hardest on the course and I hit a clutch shot into the green but just couldn't convert on the putt."
Blasberg and the rest of the Wildcats have two weeks to prepare for their first match play tournament of the year, the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship which features the top 16 finishers from last years NCAA Championships.
The tournament will be held in sunny Myrtle Beach, S.C., at the Barefoot Resort's Pete Dye course.
