Women's Golf Finishes Third at Arizona Invitational; Hannemann Places Second

TUCSON, ARIZ.  The second-ranked Arizona Wildcats pulled away on the final day of action at the Arizona Invitational on Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz., while the first-ranked Duke Blue Devils struggled to a third place finish in its first tournament of the spring.

Duke fired a final round 301 and fell to third place (888) after the host Arizona continued its excellent play with a 292 to finish with a three-day total of 875. Fourth-ranked Stanford posted a tournament best 284 on Wednesday to slide into second place with a 883.

Blue Devil junior Candy Hannemann (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) fell in a playoff to finish in second place individually, after firing a 73 on the final day. She posted a three-day total of 213, three-under-par (71-69-73=213). Arizona's Lauren Ochoa was individual honors (72-71-70=213).

Freshman Virada Nirapathpongporn (Bangkok, Thailand) finished in tied for 10th place after posting a 76 on Wednesday and finished with a four-over-par 220 (70-74-76). Sophomore Kristina Engstrom (Djursholm, Sweden) fired her third-consecutive 76 and finished in tied for 26th (76-76-76=228, +12), while senior Kalen Anderson (Edina, Minn.) posted a tied for 37th finish (77-77-76=230, +14).

Leigh Anne Hardin, a freshman native of Martinsville, Ind., played as an individual this week and finished tied for 37th (80-74-76=230, +14).

The invitational was played at The Raven at Sabino Springs course in Tucson, Ariz. Duke will be off for the next three weeks before traveling to the Lady Gamecock Classic in Columbia, S.C. on Mar. 16-18.