April 19, 2003
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Welcome To the Show
The University of Missouri Women's Golf is set to host the seventh annual Big 12 Women's Golf Championships at the Country Club of Missouri this week.
Play is set to begin on Monday morning at 8 am and will conclude with the crowning of 2003 Big 12 Team and Individual Champions on Wednesday afternoon.
Mizzou is looking to make a major statement this week after finishing in 10th place last season at the Championships at Colbert Hills in Manhattan, Kan.
Hot as of Late
The Tigers enter the tournament playing some of their best golf of the season, having recorded three Top-5 finishes in the last three tournaments.
Mizzou started its impressive string of finishes at the Oregon Duck Invitational with a third place finish. Second place finishes at the Tapatio Springs Shootout and the Indiana University Invitational have moved the Tigers into 40th place according to GOLFSTAT. Here is a look at how the Big 12 ranks in the latest GOLFSTAT head-to-head rankings:
1. Duke 2. Pepperdine 3. Texas 4. USC 5. Cal 6. Arizona 7. Auburn 8. Oklahoma St. 9. Vanderbilt 10. UCLA 24. Oklahoma 28. Baylor 40. Mizzou 42. Kansas State 45. Texas Tech 49. Texas A&M 52. Nebraska 67. Iowa State 71. Colorado 87. Kansas
Tiger Line Up
Senior Elin Ohlsson leads a young but talented lineup into this week's tourney. Sophomores Maria Ohlsson will play in the No. 2 spot, freshman Kelli Strubinger will be at No. 3, Moberly, Mo., native Denise Knaebel will be at No. 4 and sophomore Mindy Bullard will play from the No. 5 spot in the lineup.
Team Sweden
Senior Elin Ohlsson and sophomore Maria Ohlsson, the Tigers' Swedish sister act from Vetlanda Sweden, rank No. 1 and No. 2 on the Tiger squad in stroke average.
Elin has been outstanding all year for Mizzou, recording four Top 10 finishes including a two Top 6 finishes in two of the Tigers' last three finishes. The First Team Academic All-Big 12 member ranks 13th in stroke average in the Big 12.
She has particularly impressive in the final round of tournaments. The rock-steady Tiger veteran is averaging a round of 75.0 in the final stanzas of tournaments and shot her best round of the year (71) in final round of the Mason Rudolph Golf Championship in the fall.
Maria had her best tourney of the season at the Indiana Invitational just two weeks ago. She was extremely consistent, shooting rounds of 77, 75 and 75 to finish in a tie for 4th.
She is capable of putting up some very low numbers, which was evident at the second round of the Chip N' Club Invitational last fall, when she shot the lowest round of an Tiger this season with an amazing 68.
Fantastic Freshman One of the keys to the Tigers' success so far this season has been the play of talented freshman Kelli Strubinger and Denise Knaebel. Both are averaging right around 78.0 strokes per 18 holes and both have shot season-best rounds of 71.
Strubinger has struggled with consistency a bit of late. After finishing 24th at the Oregon Duck Invite, she was awesome at the Tapatio Springs Shootout finishing in seventh on the strength of a final round of 71.
Knaebel has also been a welcome addition to the Tiger roster. After finishing 64th at the Puerto Rico Invitational, Denise tied for 10th and for 12th at the Tigers' next two tournaments. She was especially impressive in the final round of the Tapatio Springs Shootout, where she shot a final round of 73.
Bully for Bullard
Sophomore Mindy Bullard has shown flashes of brilliance this year. She had a great start to the fall season with a 10th place finish at the Chip N' Club invite in Lincoln, Neb., and then tied for eighth place at the Oregon Duck Invite on Mar. 10-11, the best finish of her career at Mizzou