UCLA
Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
Bruins Tie Twice, But Win Twice
April 02, 2016 | Women's Golf
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ATHENS, Ga. - The third-ranked Bruins tied both of their matches on Saturday at the University of Georgia Golf Course, but were able to win both tiebreakers to advance to the championship match at the Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic. UCLA tied #14 Kent State 2 1/2-2 1/2 in the morning, as well as #2 USC by the same score in the afternoon, but its overall margin of victory in the five matches was enough to move on to face #5 Alabama in Sunday's final.
The UCLA-Alabama final will begin at 6:20 a.m. PT. Live scoring will be available here.
In the Bruins' last match-play tournament, the SDSU March Mayhem at The Farms, they tied Arizona 2 1/2-2 1/2, but lost the tiebreaker due to margin of victory and did not advance to the championship match. This time around, the tiebreaker went UCLA's way versus Kent State in the first round of match play. Freshman Lilia Vu routed Taylor Kim, 8 and 7, which would prove to be huge for tiebreaker purposes. Vu won the second, third and fourth holes to take an early lead. After a halve on the fifth, the Bruin freshman claimed the sixth with a birdie, won the seventh, took the eighth on another birdie and then eagled the ninth to go 7-up at the turn. Another win on the 11th on a concession closed out the match.
Junior Hadas Libman came back late to earn a key half point for the Bruins. On the front side, Libman won the third, but Kent State's Josee Doyon claimed the second, fourth, seventh and ninth to take a 3-up lead at the turn. Libman came back with victories at holes #10 and #11 to get to within one, and after five halves, a par on the 17th for Libman to Doyon's bogey made the match all-square. The par-5 18th awaited both players and each made birdie to finish the match all-square.
Sophomore Lydia Choi clinched the advancement for the Bruins with a 1-up win over Amira Alexander, although she never led until the last hole. After four halves, Alexander won the fifth, sixth and eighth to make the turn 3-up. Choi began her comeback with victories on the 10th and 11th, but Alexander got back to 2-up with a win on #12. Choi claimed #13, and after three more halves, a win on the 17th put the match all-square heading to the final hole, which Choi would birdie to defeat Alexander. The win gave the Bruins 2 1/2 points, and by virtue of Vu's large margin of victory, allowed them to advance via the tiebreak.
Senior Louise Ridderström and freshman Bethany Wu each lost their matches. Ridderström never led against Michaela Finn, dropping the first two holes. The UCLA senior won the fourth, but fell 2-down again on the sixth. Finn took the 11th and the 14th to win, 4 and 3. Wu also never had the lead against Wad Phaewchimplee. She lost the first, but birdied the third. Wu dropped the sixth, but she came back to win the 10th to even the match. Wins on the 13th and 16th put Kent State 2-up, and while Wu won the 17th to send the match to the final hole, a pair of pars closed out the match 1-up in favor of Phaewchimplee.
Against USC, Vu continued her outstanding play with a 6 and 5 victory over Tiffany Chan. Going out first for the Bruins, Vu once again didn't trail to finish her day with a combined winning score of 14 and 12. She won the first four holes and added another victory on the seventh. Following a win for Chan on #8, Vu claimed holes #11 and #12, clinching the match on a concession on the 13th.
Libman then gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead with a victory over Amy Lee. After three halves, Libman won the fourth, sixth and seventh holes to go 3-up. Lee took #8, but wins on #10 and #11 for Libman extended her lead to 4-up, as a victory on the 14th sealed up a 5 and 4 triumph. Losses for Wu and Choi though evened the overall score at 2-all. Wu never led against Robynn Ree. On the front nine, she won the second, but dropped holes #1, #4, #5 and #6 to fall 3-down. Wu would end up 4-down after the 11th, but claimed #12, #14 and #15 to get to within one. However, a Ree win on #16 and a halve on #17 finished up a 2 and 1 victory. Choi didn't win a hole versus Kyung Kim, dropping holes #1, #4, #8, #10 and #11 in the 5 and 4 setback.
That left it up to Ridderström, who needed a win or a halve to send the Bruins to the championship match. After six halves to open her match against Gabriella Then, she won the seventh, but lost the eighth. Making the turn at all-square, Then claimed holes #10 and #11, but a birdie on the 12th got Ridderström back to within one. Another birdie on #15 got the match to all-square, but Then won #16 to go back ahead. Still at 1-down heading to the 18th, Ridderström needed to win the hole to advance the Bruins and she did just that with a birdie on the par 5 to tie Then.
