UW women golfers finish second in NCAA regional as Rino Sasaki has her best tournament ever

CLE ELUM — They may have been second, but they felt like winners.

The Washington women’s golf team finished second in the Cle Elum Regional of the NCAA tournament on Wednesday, earning one of six berths into the NCAA championships, and UW sophomore Rino (Ree-no) Sasaki finished second in the best event of her life.

But on this day, especially with top-ranked USC in the field, second was more than good enough.

The Trojans were easy winners of the three-day event at Tumble Creek Golf Club with a score of 20-under 844. UW finished at 5 under and Northwestern was third at even par. The final three berths into the NCAA championships to be played May 17-22 in Fayetteville, Ark., went to Arkansas, San Jose State and Central Florida.

“Winning is always better, but we played well,” said UW women’s coach Mary Lou Mulflur. “USC is an incredible team. But we’re starting to jell and starting to come together.”

USC’s Jennifer Chang was the individual winner at 11-under 205, making a birdie on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory over Sasaki and Ana Laura Collado of Central Florida.

UW’s Julianne Alvarez tied for 17th at 2 over.

Sasaki needed a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to have a chance to tie for first, and she gave herself a chance by hitting her third shot 3 feet from the hole. But Chang then hit her third shot 4 feet from the hole, and she drained the putt for the win.

That did not take away from Sasaki’s brilliant bogey-free, 4-under round of 68. It was the best finish of her UW career and the first time she has finished a tournament double digits under par.

Sasaki said she felt comfortable at Tumble Creek as the Huskies play rounds there each year during their annual retreat. But they had never gone like the past three days.

“I really never played well in my practice rounds (at Tumble Creek) and I just tried to have fun,” said Sasaki, from Japan. “This week I had more of a tournament mind.”

Sasaki, who came in as UW’s No. 4 player in scoring average, began the day one shot behind. She tied for the lead a few times, and hit a remarkable 16 greens in regulation. She made a great save on one of the times she didn’t. She left her tee shot on the par-3 in the front bunker and got an unlucky lie as the ball buried in the sand.

She said her mindset was to make a bogey and move on. But she did one better, blasting out about 18 feet from the hole, then sinking the putt. Despite playing with Chang, one of the top players in the country, Sasaki never wilted, reaching 10 under with her birdie on the 18th.

“I was proud of myself,” she said. “It was good that I got to see (Chang) golf, she’s always great. I got to play with her, and I played my best game. I still have room for improvement, but I played pretty well.”

That is being modest, according to her coach.

“I can’t say enough about Rino this week. She was absolutely rock solid. She’s been doing everything right, she’s been working her tail off. She was so due to take it deep, and this was her week. I am really excited for her.”

The NCAA tournament will be the final collegiate event for seniors Alvarez, Wenyung Keh and Sarah Rhee. They helped UW win a national title as freshmen. And the No. 19 Huskies, who beat two teams ranked in the top 10 this week (South Carolina and Arkansas), figure to contend again.

“We’re getting low scores from everywhere and that does you well,” Mulflur said.