On Wednesday, No. 5 Oregon women’s golf placed third (+1) at the Chevron Silverado Showdown at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, California, on solid outings from Tong An and Annika Ishiyama on the final day.
Star juniors Kiara Romero and Karen Tsuru did not compete in Napa this week after competing in the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, where Romero secured a fourth-place finish (-8) while Tsuru missed the final cut.
Leading the charge for Oregon in Napa were An and Darae Chung, who finished tied for 15th (E). Chung opened the tournament, shooting one under after a rocky front nine where she bogeyed on holes four and five. She struggled in the second round, shooting two over, but bounced back in the final round, shooting one under.
An got off to a rough start in the first round, shooting two over with three bogeys through 18 holes. She bounced back in the second round, shooting one over before shooting three under in the third round to get back to even.
Ishiyama also started her outing with two over in both the first and second rounds, but joined An in shooting three under par to close out the tournament. She birdied six times in the final round, with three in a row on holes 15 through 17.
Shyla Singh and Sophie Han were also a part of the final day push, shooting one and two under, respectively. Both Singh and Han were middle of the table to start the tournament, but their comeback pushed them up to 21st and 26th, respectively.
Outside of the top performers, individual performer Yvonne Vinceri finished 50th (+11) despite a strong even finish to kick things off in the first round. She shot six and five over in the final two rounds, which sent her plummeting in the standings after her strong finish.
With this week’s strong finish, Oregon is in a great spot heading into the Big Ten Championships on April 24 in Glendale, California. The tournament will be held at the Oakmont Country Club, which has held multiple major tournaments, including the U.S. Open. Oakmont has hosted the U.S. Open 10 times since 1927, the most of any course, and has hosted some of golf’s biggest names like Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.
The Ducks are currently the second-highest-ranked Big Ten team in the nation, behind No. 2 USC, which took home the trophy at the Silverado Showdown with an overall score of 37 under par. This is the sixth time Oregon and the Trojans have faced off this season, with both teams placing over one another twice and tied twice.
With Romero and Tsuru returning to the team, the Ducks have a real shot at taking home the Big Ten trophy.
