Freshman Brianna Navarrosa takes career-best 2nd place finish at Fresno State Classic


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USC junior Katharine Muzi tees off
USC junior Katharine Muzi tied for 16th at the Fresno State Classic with a 3-over 219. (Simon Park | Daily Trojan)

Three women’s golf players competed in the Fresno State Classic at Copper River Country Club in the individual’s tournament on Monday and Tuesday.

In her fourth start this year, freshman Brianna Navarrosa led the Trojans, taking second place with an impressive 10-under par overall 206. After Monday’s round, she was in third place at 3-under, 6 shots off from the lead. She finished her final round Tuesday with four birdies on her last six holes to secure her second place finish. 

“I was hitting it really solid, my short game has gotten a lot better compared to my last couple tournaments so I think that was a big advantage this tournament,” Navarrosa said. “I really think it was my short game and I made a lot of putts which helped as well.” 

This is her career best effort since joining the team. She finished eighth at the season-opening Lamkin Invitational and tied for 11th at the Sun Devil Winter Classic in February. 

Stanford freshman Rachel Heck won the tournament with a 16-under 200. 

USC junior Katherine Muzi tied for 16th with a 3-over 219 and freshman Christine Wang tied for 31st with an 8-over 224. Muzi’s 3-over is her best score and second-highest finish out of her five starts this season. A double bogey in each of the first two rounds of the tournament kept her from breaking under par. Wang’s tie for 31st is the best placement of her two starts this season— she excelled on Cooper River’s par 5’s making birdie on four of her 12 attempts.

This was the last regular season tournament appearance for No. 6 USC. The Trojans will head to the Pac-12 championship next weekend before the NCAA Regionals. One of their biggest competitors in the postseason will be No. 9 Arizona State. 

“Our biggest competition is ASU,” Navarrosa said. “They are one of the top ones and as strong as our team is … it really all depends on where regionals are for us, we’re thinking it’s gonna be up in Nor Cal so Stanford’s gonna be another big competitor for us but hopefully we will finish up on top.”

USC and ASU have met twice so far this season at the Sun Devil Winter Classic and the Silverado Showdown. USC placed first in both tournaments, and ASU finished second and tied fourth, respectively. 

The Pac-12 is a stacked conference this year, with Oregon and Arizona rounding out the teams in the rankings at No. 14 and No. 23, respectively. 

The Pac-12 championship begins on April 23 at Stanford University Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.