Lin Leads Ducks To Fourth Place Finish In Final Fall Tournament

Wednesday, November 3

Kona, HI

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University of Oregon

Pac-12 Preview

Photo by: Nate Krueger/GoDucks.com

Lin Leads Ducks To Fourth Place Finish In Final Fall Tournament

11/03/21 | Women's Golf

Online Results Final Results

By: Nate Krueger

KAILUA KONA, Hawaii – Behind another terrific showing from senior Tze-Han (Heather) Lin, the Oregon women's golf team wrapped its fall season with a fourth-place finish at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview on Wednesday at Nanea Golf Club.

The No. 5 Ducks put together their best round of the week to move up a spot on the leaderboard, posting the top score of the final round with a 3-under 289. Oregon closed the fall with its fourth straight top-five finish, and 16th in its last 18 tournaments dating back to 2019-20.

"Really proud of our team for finishing off the week and the fall strong," head coach Derek Radley said. "We started off well on Monday, hit a little bump yesterday, and then came out and had a great day today. We had a really good team meeting last night and were really motivated to move up the leaderboard today.

"I'm proud of what our team accomplished this fall. We're looking forward to taking a little bit of down time, working on our craft, and then coming back and having a tremendous spring. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this group."

Lin was phenomenal on Wednesday, making seven birdies en route to a 6-under 67, the best score by any player in the field this week. Lin – who won the Pac-12 Preview as a freshman – tied for third place overall at 5 under, her second straight top-five finish and fourth of her career after placing fourth at the Stanford Intercollegiate.

"You couldn't ask for a better senior leader than Heather," Radley said. "She knows what it takes and has a good history here at this tournament, and she put together another great week. I'm really impressed with what she was able to accomplish this fall."

How it Happened: Starting her day at No. 6 with a shotgun start, Lin made a bogey at No. 7 but was flawless the rest of the way. She made three straight birdies from holes No. 12 to No. 14 to get to 2 under, and then rattled off four more consecutive birdies from No. 18 to No. 3.

Lin – who won the Pac-12 Preview as a freshman in 2018 – posted a 6 under round for the second straight tournament, tied for the seventh-best round vs. par in UO history. Lin made 13 total birdies this week in Hawaii compared to just eight bogeys.

Ching-Tzu Chen posted an even-par 73 on Wednesday, finishing as Oregon's second-highest individual in 16th place overall at 3 over. Chen made three birdies in the final round, and she led the Ducks with 39 total pars for the week.

Briana Chacon finished one stroke behind Chen for the week at 4 over, tying for 17th overall. Chacon made three birdies in her final eight holes on Wednesday to shoot a 1-over 74.

Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen posted her best round of the week, making 14 pars to finish with a 2-over 75. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu closed with a 3-over 76 and finished in a tie for 22nd, giving the Ducks four players in the individual top 25. All five Ducks placed in the top 30 with Nielsen tied for 30th.

Ducks on the Leaderboard:
4. Oregon – 292-302-289 – 883 (+7)
T3. Tze-Han (Heather) Lin – 72-75-67 – 214 (-5)
16. Ching-Tzu Chen – 74-75-73 – 222 (+3)
T17. Briana Chacon – 73-76-74 – 223 (+4)
T22. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu – 73-76-76 – 225 (+6)
T30. Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen – 77-77-75 – 229 (+10)

What it Means: Coming off a 2021 spring season that saw them tie for 11th at the NCAA Championships, the Ducks returned their entire starting lineup this fall and put together a terrific fall season. Oregon dominated the Mason Rudolph Championship to open the fall with a win, and followed that up with a trio of top-five finishes while earning a top-five national ranking. Oregon will look to carry that momentum into the spring season, with hopes and expectations of competing for both a conference and national championship.

Notable: No. 1 Stanford won the team title at 1-under par … USC's Katherine Muzi finished as the individual medalist at 9 under … Oregon was the top team in the field on par-3 holes at even par … The Ducks tied with USC for the most total pars this week with 174 … Chen and Lu were both 1 under for the week on par-3s … Lin was 2 under on par-4 holes … Chacon shot 5 under for the tournament on par-5s … Chacon and Lin tied for the team lead for total birdies with 13 … Chen led the Ducks with 39 total pars.

Up Next: The Ducks will take a few months off from competition before opening their spring season on February 14-15 in San Diego.