Texas women’s golf has sights set on national title after blowout win in Big 12 championship

By Steve Habel, Senior Contributing Writer

AUSTIN, Texas — If Texas women’s golf coach Ryan Murphy were a chef, he would be a combination of Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay and Mario Batali because of that trio’s ability to find the best in everything, star power and attention to history, respectively.

What Murphy has cooked up in his five years at the helm of the Texas program, namely a [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]real chance to win the national championship with a group of women from here, there and everywhere, is nearly ready to be served.

Texas enters Monday’s NCAA Norman Regional as the second-ranked team in the country and rising like a rocket, having captured its third straight Big 12 Conference title two weeks ago by a record 37 shots in the league championship in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

The Longhorns also established a league mark for the most golfers in the individual top five, becoming the first team in Big 12 Championship history to finish with the top four golfers in the individual standings and just the third all-time to place four golfers in the top-10 individually.

“I think we are playing our best when it counts the most, and that’s been the goal all year,” said Texas sophomore Agathe Laisne, who captured the individual title at the Big 12 championship with a 2-over-par 218. “Coach Murphy has put together a plan for us and we’ve worked hard to get to where we are — now we just have to finish.”

Laisne is the third Big 12 individual champion in program history, joining Heather Bowie (1997) and Madison Pressel (2011), and the conference individual crown marked Laisne’s first collegiate career win. Her 12 birdies during the Big 12 championship were the most of any golfer in the field.

Laisne will join sophomore Kaitlyn Papp, junior Emilee Hoffman and freshmen Hailee Cooper and Sara Kouskova in Norman beginning Monday. UT’s lineup features four of the top 42 players in the nation, with Papp ranked 14th, Laisne at 18th, Cooper at 22 and Kouskova listed at 42.

The top six teams and the lowest-scoring three individuals outside those squads will advance to the national championship tournament, to be held May 17-22 at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

“It’s important to be peaking at the right time,” Murphy said. “That’s the goal, and you try to be setting it up like that, but it’s tough because these girls have school to contend with as well and everyone’s academic calendar is a little different. I try to have a good balance between rest and practice heading into this stretch of the year.

“This is the hardest working team I’ve ever had — they really bust it. At times I think they are working too hard and not resting enough, and the team chemistry has been fantastic.”

Texas is one of seven ranked teams competing in Norman, including No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 10 Florida, No. 15 Arizona State, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 24 TCU and No. 25 Pepperdine.

The Longhorns have advanced to the NCAA Championship 27 times and have made three consecutive appearances, most recently tying for 12th last season in Stillwater, Okla., in the program’s best finish since 2004.

“The Big 12 was really great for all of us — our games are in good shape,” Papp said. “Even though we have a young team, we all have a lot of experience on the junior level and that’s helps.”

Laisne’s move up the Texas’ ladder and her win in the league championship take nothing away from the performances of her teammates.

Papp (who played in high school at nearby Lake Travis) has been the squad’s erstwhile top golfer all year, posting pair of runner-up finishes. She also was one of three Longhorns’ players, along with Laisne and junior Emilee Hoffman, who were chosen to compete in the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur at the storied Augusta, Ga., home of the Masters Tournament.

Papp finished tied for fifth at 1 under par, with Laisne in 29th at 10 over. Hoffman finished 37th and did not make the final cut in Augusta.

Papp qualified last week for the U.S. Women’s Open by winning Sectional Qualifying at Canyon Creek Country Club in Richardson, Texas. The Open in at the Country Club of Charleston in South Carolina May 29-June 2.

“With the people we had on the team and the ones we had coming in, I expected us to be this good and a really solid team,” Papp said. “Our goal is to just go out and compete and play well like we have been all season.”

The Longhorns have won four tournaments this season, marking the first time they have captured four events in a single season since notching five wins in 1992-93. The school record for most victories in a single campaign is six, accomplished in 1987-88.

Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Texas has earned seven team wins and posted 18 top-five finishes in 23 events during that span.

The Longhorns already this season have broken the school records for best 18-hole team score (272) and best 54-hole team score (824).

“We are all playing really solid and we are looking forward to continuing that success,” said Hoffman, who along with Papp was an All-America last season. “This is a special team – we have great chemistry and really motivate each other to get better every day. How you work in practice carries over to how you play in the tournaments. Our work ethics are very similar and we push each other to stay on track.”
[/s2If] [s2If !current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] [habeabk] [/s2If]