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Women's Golf
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Duke Opens Spring Season In First Place At Lady Puerto Rico Classic
2/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Feb. 22, 2004
DURHAM, N.C. - The top-ranked Duke women's golf team kicked off the spring season the same way the Blue Devils finished the fall- in first place- as the Blue Devils carded a three-under-par round of 285 on Sunday to lead the Lady Puerto Rico Classic by seven strokes after day one at the Par 72, 6,016-yard Dorado Del Mar Country Club in Dorado, Puerto Rico.
Duke leads Georgia (292), Oklahoma (293), Southern California (297), Tulane (301), Tulsa (304), Auburn (310), Florida (310), Wake Forest (312), Kent State (313), Texas (314), Michigan (315), Missouri (317), Purdue (321) and Penn State (324).
"I am really proud of this team," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "They are coming off a pretty bad winter which has kept them off the course a lot and have had a lot of expectations put on them with all the publicity they have received lately. They have handled it well and fought off some nerves today to post a very good round."
Senior three-time All-America Virada Nirapathpongporn carded the round of the day firing a season-best six-under-par 66 on Sunday with nine birdies and one triple-bogey, which happened on the par-4 hole 13. The Bangkok, Thailand product leads the individual action by four strokes over Lisa Tyler of Georgia and Lisa Meldrum of Oklahoma (70). Nirapathpongporn registered a five-under-par front nine to kick off her first round of the spring.
"Virada's swing is as good as it has ever been right now," said Brooks.
Sophomore Liz Janangelo, currently ranked No. 1 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, turned in a 72 and is tied fifth, while junior Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh made her first appearance of the 2003-04 campaign and fired an even-par 72 also. Both are tied for fifth individually. Aazam-Zanganeh, a product of Lausanne, Switzerland, missed the fall season due to undergoing surgery on her hip in September.
Freshmen Brittany Lang and Anna Grzebien posted rounds of 75 and 78, respectively. Senior Leigh Anne Hardin played as an individual and collected a two-over-par 74 and is tied for 14th overall.
The Blue Devils posted its 10th straight round of under-par scoring dating back to the NCAA Fall Preview in September.
Duke will tee off at 8:30 a.m. on Monday in a shotgun start for round two of three.
1 Duke University 2851 V. Nirapathpongporn 31- 35 66
T 5 Elizabeth Janangelo 38- 34 72
T 5 N. Aazam-Zanganeh 34- 38 72
T 20 Brittany Lang 37- 38 75
T 38 Anna Grzebien 39- 39 78
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