Duke put a little distance between itself and some very
talented chasers with a brilliant 17-under 271 Saturday to take a 10-shot lead
after two rounds of a loaded Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational at the
University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Duke’s Leona Maguire, a senior from Ireland, looked like the
No. 1 player in the Women’s World
Amateur Golf Ranking that she is with a 6-under-par 66 over the
6,739-yard, par-72 Tom Fazio design at Finley to take a two-shot lead in the
individual standings at 9-under 135.
North Carolina sophomore Brynn Walker, a two-time PIAA Class
AAA champion at Radnor, is where she belongs – under par – after two rounds as
she added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 71 and is tied for 15th
at 3-under 141.
More importantly, Walker helped the Tar Heels card a 5-under
283 that has them tied for fifth with their rivals from Raleigh, North Carolina
State, at 4-under 572.
That’s not bad considering the four teams ahead of the Tar
Heels and the Wolfpack might be four of the best teams in women’s college golf
right now.
The reigning ACC champion Blue Devils had held a one-shot
lead after opening with a 5-under 283 Friday. Their 271 Saturday leaves them at
22-under 554.
Alabama, No. 2 in the latest Golfweek rankings, fired a 9-under 279 and is 10 shots behind Duke
at 12-under 564. South Carolina added a 7-under 281 to is opening round of
4-under 284 and is third at 11-under 565.
Then came red-hot Arkansas, a deserving No. 1 team in the
country. Maria Fassi, a junior from Mexico, fired a sensational 7-under 65
Saturday to help the Razorbacks match Alabama’s 9-under 279 and move into
fourth alone at 9-under 567.
It’s another five shots back to host North Carolina and N.C.
State tied for fifth at 572.
Backing up Maguire for the Blue Devils was Virginia Elena
Carta, the junior from Italy who won the 2016 NCAA title and was the 2016
runnerup in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club. Carta added a
4-under 68 to her opening-round 71 to join a group of five players tied for
fifth at 5-under 139.
Jaravee Boonchant, Duke’s talented freshman from Thailand,
is tied for 10th at 4-under 140 after firing a 4-under 68. Ana
Belac, a sophomore from Slovenia, gave Duke its fourth under-par counter with a
3-under 69 that left her tied for 21st at 2-under 142. Miranda Wang,
a redshirt freshman from China, had a 3-over 75 and is tied for 40th
at 2-over 146.
North Carolina was led, as it has been all fall, by Ava
Bergner, a freshman from Germany. Bergner carded her second straight 2-under 70
and is in the group along with Duke’s Boonchant tied for 10th at
4-under 140. Walker is another shot behind Bergner in the group tied for 15th
at 3-under 141.
Kelly Whaley, a junior from Farmington, Conn., matched par
with a 72 and is tied for 40th at 2-over 146. Bryana Nguyen, a senior
from Columbia, Md., posted a 73 and is tied for 48th at 3-over 147. North Carolina’s fourth counter, though, came from Mariana Ocano, a sophomore
from St. Petersburg, Fla. who bounced back from an opening-round 81 with a
solid 1-under 71 that left her tied for 73rd at 152.
South Carolina’s Ainhoa Olarra, a senior from Spain, is alone
in second place in the individual race
at 7-under 137, two shots behind Maguire, after firing a 5-under 67.
But the low round of the day belonged to Fassi, who had
opened with a 1-over 73, but came roaring back with the that 65 to get a share
of third at 8-under 138.
She was joined at that figure by Virginia’s Anna Redding, a
junior from Concord, N.C. Redding, a perennial contender in the Women’s North
& South Amateur at the Pinehurst Resort, always seems to save her best
stuff for her home state. She added a 4-under 68 to her opening-round 70.
Another talented North Carolinian, Wake Forest’s freshman
phenom Emilia Migliaccio of Cary, N.C., joined Duke’s Carta in the group tied
for fifth at 5-under 139. Migliaccio added a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 69.
Migliaccio’s teammate, junior Jennifer Kupcho, the Westminster,
Colo. resident who is No. 2 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking, is also
in the group at 139. She had opened with a flawless 66, but fell back with a
1-over 73.
The other first-round co-leader, Louisville’s Molly Skapik,
a senior from Miamisburg, Ohio, couldn’t sustain her momentum from an opening-round
66 either and also had a 1-over 73.
Last but not least in that quintet tied for fifth was
Michigan State’s Sarah Burnham, a senior from Maple Grove, Minn. Burnham added
a 2-under 70 to her opening-round 69 to get to 5-under 139.
The scene is set for some serious final-round fireworks
Sunday.
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