Since Jasmine Koo first stepped on campus at USC, her Trojan coaches have been stressing consideration to element.
“My assistant, Beth [Wu], is all the time saying it, ‘Consideration to element! Consideration to element! Consideration to element!” Koo mentioned.
The ultra-talented but ultra-aggressive Koo, a freshman from Cerritos, California, didn’t put a lot thought into such meticulousness as a junior golfer – dissecting gap areas earlier than aggressive rounds, taking part in to the fats aspect of greens, not backhanding quick putts. She didn’t have to, no less than in turning into one of many nation’s prime high-schoolers. Her supreme ability led her to a fourth-place end on the Augusta Nationwide Girls’s Newbie this yr, adopted by low-amateur honors on the Chevron Championship, adopted by a semifinals look on the U.S. Women’ Junior, adopted by a 2-1-1 displaying on the Curtis Cup, adopted by a No. 2 standing on this planet novice rankings.
Now 4 begins into her school profession, Koo has already matured her sport enormously, including sensible golf to stellar golf – and she or he’s been downright unbeatable in consequence.
Since her T-15 end in her USC debut, Koo has gained three straight particular person titles, together with Monday on the East Lake Cup, the place Koo rattled off 9 birdies on a PGA Tour structure and shot 7-under 65 to win the 18-hole, stroke-play portion by three photographs over her teammate Catherine Park, who additionally completed runner-up to Koo final week on the Stanford Intercollegiate.
“Small targets and small errors,” Koo mentioned afterward, “that was the mindset I went with at present, and it actually labored.”
Koo’s run of three straight wins, which additionally included her first school title on the Windy Metropolis Collegiate, places Koo in an elite group at USC. She joins Annie Park as the one Trojans to ever win three consecutive tournaments; Park additionally completed the feat as a freshman, although her wins got here on the Pac-12 Championship, NCAA West Regional and NCAA Championship in 2013.
USC dominated Monday’s shootout at East Lake, ending six photographs forward of LSU and 15 photographs higher than UCLA, which is able to face its Los Angeles rival in Tuesday’s semifinals. Koo will face Bruins senior Caroline Canales within the second match out whereas Park will get fellow first-team All-American Zoe Campos, who’s taking part in her remaining school occasion earlier than turning professional to play LPGA remaining qualifying. Canales is also weighing an analogous choice.
The Tigers will play Oregon within the different girls’s semifinal.
Georgia Tech earned the highest seed on the lads’s aspect and can face Ohio State on Tuesday. Auburn and Florida State will sq. off in a rematch of final spring’s NCAA males’s remaining.
