Fassi, No. 3 Arkansas cruise to victories
Maria Fassi was a runaway winner for medalist honors Tuesday to help propel the No. 3 Arkansas women's golf team to a nine-shot victory at the Evans Derby Experience in Auburn, Ala.
Fassi, a junior from Mexico, won her fifth tournament of the season by shooting 14-under par, five strokes better than teammate Maria Hoyos. Fassi joined former All-American and LPGA standout Stacey Lewis as the only Arkansas players to win five or more events in a season.
The Razorbacks dominated a field dotted with top 25 teams with an 11 under Tuesday to finish at 28 under, the second-lowest tournament score in school history. No. 5 Duke was nine shots back at 19 under, followed by No. 2 Alabama (14 under), No. 27 Auburn (1 under) and No. 31 Florida State (1 over). No. 12 Florida and No. 9 South Carolina tied for sixth at 2 over, ahead of five more teams in the 12-team field, including No. 41 Ole Miss (24 over) and Mississippi State (47 over).
Fassi carded an 8-under 64 on Sunday to race to a three-shot lead in the opening round, and her 5-under 67 was also the best round Monday.
Hoyos, playing as an individual, finished with her second consecutive 2-under 70 to finish alone in second, two shots ahead of South Carolina's Ainhoa Olarra.
Arkansas senior Alanna Uriell tied for seventh at 5 under, while junior Kaylee Benton was one shot back in a tie for ninth. The Razorbacks' junior duo of Cara Gorlei and Dylan Kim shot matching 68s on Tuesday and tied for 28th place.
-- Tom Murphy
Hogs tie for 10th
The No. 16 Arkansas men's golf team shot a 2-over 286 on Tuesday to tie for 10th at the Valspar Collegiate tournament in Palm City, Fla.
The Razorbacks were 25 shots off the pace of No. 1 Oklahoma State, which shot 5 over Tuesday to wind up at 12 under after building a huge lead through two rounds on the 7,114-yard, par-71 layout at the Floridian National Golf Club.
No. 23 Florida State finished second at 7 under, followed by No. 2 Texas A&M (2 under), No. 3 Georgia Tech (even), and No. 9 Baylor (2 over) and No. 37 Duke (2 over), who tied for fifth.
The Razorbacks were led by sophomore Luis Garza, whose 71 on Tuesday moved him up eight spots into a tie for 23rd at 2 over, 15 strokes behind medalist Viktor Hovland of Oklahoma State. Arkansas sophomore Mason Overstreet, last year's NCAA runner up, was one shot behind Garza at 3 over. Senior Alvaro Ortiz carded a 4-over 217 to tie for 31st along with sophomore William Buhl. Freshman Landon Ernst closed with a 1-over 72 to finish tied for 66th at 13 over and sophomore Tyson Reeder tied for 85th at 24 over.
ASU men second in Texas
Arkansas State University's men finished second at the Lone Star Invitational in San Antonio on Tuesday.
The Red Wolves finished with an 866, 17 strokes behind Oklahoma's 849. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock finished seventh with an 881.
Individually, Arkansas State's Jakub Bares finished second overall with a 209, one stroke back of Oklahoma's Brad Dalke. Zan Luka Stim finished fifth for the Red Wolves with a 212. UALR's Justin Warren and Tiago Lobo finished tied for 18th with a 219.
Harding, Arkansas Tech finish in top five
Harding University and Arkansas Tech University's men finished second and third respectively at the UCO Broncho Invitational in Edmond, Okla., on Tuesday.
The Bisons shot a 608 (318-290) to finish 11 strokes behind Central Oklahoma. The Wonder Boys shot a 612 (313-299), finishing 15 strokes back. Henderson Stae finished 13th (642) and Southern Arkansas was 15th (648).
Individually, Arkanas Tech's Luke Cornett finished fourth with a 148 (78-70) and Austin Gean was seventh with a 149 (71-78). Harding's Cooper Dunn was ninth with a 150 (77-73).