Arkansas holds onto lead after two rounds of ANNIKA Intercollegiate

   Arkansas held on to the top spot in the team standings at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, presented by 3M, Monday at Olympic Hills Golf Club in Eden Prairie, Minn., but the Razorbacks had to be hearing footsteps.

   Arkansas, No. 1 in the latest Golfweek rankings and deservedly so, added a 6-under 282 to its opening round of even-par 288 in tough conditions Sunday to hold onto the team lead with a 6-under 570 total.

   But two ridiculously talented teams, Texas and Stanford, made big moves, in the case of the Longhorns a huge move, to share second place, four shots behind the Razorbacks at 2-under 574.

   Texas, with U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Sophia Schubert, a senior from Oak Ridge, Tenn., leading the way with a 5-under-par 67 over the 6,288-yard, par-72 Olympic Hills layout, fired a dazzling 14-under 274. The reigning Big 12 champion Longhorns had opened with a so-so 300, but surged into second.

   Stanford, with Andrea Lee, the top freshman in the country a year ago from Hermosa Beach, Calif., and Shannon Aubert, a senior from Stuart, Fla. and the world who was the qualifying medalist at this summer’s U.S. Women’s Amateur, both shooting a 3-under 69, added an 8-under 280 to its opening-round 294.

   UCLA, which looked like the best team in the country after rampaging to the Pac-12 title last spring before flaming out in the regional, also had an 8-under 280 and is just a shot behind Texas and Stanford in fourth at 1-under 575.

   Furman, with individual leader Natalie Srinivasan, a sophomore from Spartanburg, S.C., firing a 4-under 68 had a pretty strong day with a sizzling 11-under 277 that moved the Paladins into fifth place at 1-over 577. South Carolina had a solid even-par 288 and fell from second to sixth place, although the Gamecocks are certainly still in the mix at 3-over 579.

   Arkansas has three players in the top five in the individual standings, led by Maria Fassi, a junior from Mexico who is one of three players tied for second, two shots behind Srinivasan at 4-under 140. Fassi had her second straight 2-under 70.

   Two more Razorbacks are in the trio of three players tied for fifth at 3-under 141, Alana Uriell, a sophomore from Carlsbad, Calif., and Dylan Kim, a junior from Plano, Texas. Uriell added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 71 while Kim had the low score of the day for the Razorbacks, a 4-under 68, after opening with a 73.

   Rounding out the Arkansas contingent were Cara Gorlei, a junior from South Africa who posted a second straight 74 and is tied for 28^th at 4-over 148, and Kaylee Benton, a junior from Buckeye, Ariz. who had a 78 and is 46^th at 154.

   Srinivasan had opened with a 2-under 70 and her 68 Monday left her atop the individual standings at 6-under 138.

   Joining Fassi in the group tied for second at 4-under 140 were two of the top freshmen in the country, UCLA’s Patty Tavatanakit of Thailand and Stanford’s Mika Liu of Beverly Hills, Calif. Tavatanakit, the top American Junior Golf Association player the last two years, added a 3-under 69 to her opening-round 71. Liu, a member of the 2016 U.S. Curtis Cup team before her senior year in high school, had a share of the lead  with an opening-round 66,  but fell back with a 72, Stanford’s fourth-best score of the day.

   Joining Arkansas’ Uriell and Kim in the threesome tied for fifth at 3-under 141 was Texas’ Schubert. A little rusty after playing all three rounds of the Evian Championship, the LPGA’s final major of the year, two weeks ago, Schubert opened with a 74 Monday, but her 67 Monday get her right in the mix.

   The Longhorns other three counters were a 68 by Emilee Hoffman, a sophomore from Folsom, Calif., a 69 by Greta Isabella Voelker, a sophomore from Germany, and a 70 from freshman phenom Kaitlyn Papp of Austin, Texas. Papp teamed with fellow Texan Hailee Cooper to win the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball Championship at Streamsong. Cooper will be joining her in Austin next summer.

   Oh yeah, the Longhorns tossed Agathe Laisne’s 2-over 74. All the freshman did this summer was win the Ladies European Championship. She also teed it up in the Evian Championship in her native France.

   Stanford’s fourth counter beside the 69s by Lee and Aubert and Liu’s 72 was a 2-under 70 by Albane Valenzuela, a sophomore from Switzerland. Valenzuela was the runnerup to Laisne in the European Ladies Championship and lost in the U.S. Women’s Amateur final to Schubert. I’m thinking she’s had enough of this finishing second business.