King leads the way as TCU is out in front after two rounds at wind-blown Hurricane Invitational

   There are two of TCU’s Big 12 rivals ranked ahead of the Horned Frogs in the field for the Hurricane Invitational, which teed off with a double-round Monday at the Biltmore Golf Course, a Donald Ross classic in Coral Gables, Fla.

   But at the end of a long day of wind-blown golf, it was TCU, No. 54 in the latest Golfstat rankings, that stood atop the team leaderboard, seven shots ahead of a hard-charging Arizona, at No. 9 the highest-ranked team in the field.

   If there’s any place the wind blows harder and more persistently than South Florida in March, it’s probably Texas, so maybe it’s not a huge shocker that TCU handled the conditions a little better than the rest of the field.

   TCU had a decent postseason a year ago, finishing fourth in the tough Big 12 and earning a No. 6 seed in the NCAA East Lansing Regional. But the Horned Frogs couldn’t take that next stop and failed to advance to the NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

   Coming of a solid fifth-place finish in last week’s ICON Invitational, hosted by Houston at The Woodlands, TCU looks like it has its sights set on taking that next step this spring and reaching the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   The Horned Frogs got a huge boost from a talented freshman, Trinity King of Arlington, Texas, who grabbed the individual lead after 36 holes, adding a 2-under-par 70 over the 6,100-yard, par-72 Biltmore layout to her opening-round 71 for a 3-under 141 total. Only three players in the field were able to complete two rounds at the Biltmore under par Monday.

   TCU opened with a 3-over 291 Monday morning and trailed Big 12 rival Oklahoma State, ranked 16^th, and No. 53 Maryland out of the Big Ten, by three shots. A 5-over 293 in the afternoon gave the Horned Frogs an 8-over 584 total.

   Arizona, out of the powerful Pac-12, is one of the top programs in the country. The Wildcats claimed the third national championship in program history with a victory over Alabama in the Final Match in 2018 at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. and took it all the way to the semifinals in defense of their crown last spring at The Blessings before falling to eventual champion Duke.

   After opening with an 11-over 299, Arizona had the best round of the afternoon, a 4-over 292 that left the Wildcats in second place at 15-over 291.

   Another Big Ten representative, No. 50 Michigan, matched TCU’s 5-over 293 in the afternoon after opening with a 299 and was alone in third place, a shot behind Arizona at 16-over 292.

   The Wolverines’ Big Ten rival Maryland backed off its solid 1-over 289 in the morning with a 304 in the afternoon, leaving the Terrapins alone in fourth place, a shot behind Michigan at 17-over 293.

Oklahoma State also started strong with a 1-over 289, but struggled in the afternoon with a 308 that left the Cowgirls four shots behind Maryland in fifth place at 21-over 297.

   Another Big Ten entry, No. 30 Illinois, was alone in sixth place, a shot behind Oklahoma State at 22-over 298. The Illini added a 298 in the afternoon to their opening-round 300.

   Host Miami, ranked 26^th, was a shot behind Illinois in seventh place at 23-over 599. The Hurricanes, out of the tough Atlantic Coast Conference, opened with a 6-over 294, but struggled to a 305 in the afternoon.

   It was a tough day for another Big Ten entry, No. 76 Penn State, which struggled to an opening-round 314 and added a 311 in the afternoon and ended up in 10^th place in the 12-team field at 49-over 625.

   TCU got another showing from Sabrina Iqbal, a sophomore from San Jose, Calif. who matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after opening with a 74 and was among a trio of players tied for fourth place at 2-over 146.

   Iqbal, who finished in a tie for eighth in the Big 12 Championship last spring at the Golf Club of Oklahoma in Broken Arrow, Okla., was the leader for TCU last week at The Woodlands, ending up in a tie for seventh place.

   Grace Do, a junior from Coppell, Texas, had a solid day for the Horned Frogs with a pair of 2-over 74s that left her among the group tied for 13^th place at 4-over 148.

   Jennie Park, a freshman from Carrollton, Texas, and Greta Bruner, TCU’s senior leader from Conroe, Texas, both opened with a 1-over 73 and both added a 77 in the afternoon as they landed among the group tied for 21^st place at 6-over 150.

   Leadership comes in a lot of forms. In Bruner’s case it came in the form of a pair of eagles, one in the morning on the 459-yard, par-5 18^th hole and another in the afternoon on the 440-yard, par-5 15^th hole. They were the ninth and 10^th eagles of her career, breaking a tie for the program record she shared with two former Horned Frogs, including major champion Angela Stanford.

   King’s closest pursuer in the individual chase was Oklahoma State’s Maja Stark, a freshman from Sweden and No. 12 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR). Stark had the best individual round of the day, a sparkling 5-under 67 in Monday morning’s opening round, before struggling to a 3-over 75 in the afternoon that left her alone in second place at 2-under 142, a shot behind King.

   Michigan’s Ashley Kim, a junior from Redondo Beach, Calif., was the only player to break 70 in the afternoon as her 3-under 69 left her alone in third place at 1-under 143. Kim had opened with a 2-over 74.

   Joining TCU’s Iqbal in the trio tied for fourth place at 2-over 146 were Arizona’s Vivian Hou, a freshman from Taiwan, and Oklahoma’s Mikhaela Fortuna, a sophomore from the Philippines. Vivian Hou opened with a solid 1-under 71 before adding a 3-over 75 in the afternoon. Fortuna had opened with a 75 before finishing up with a 1-under 71, one of the better rounds in the afternoon.

   Vivian Hou’s big sister, Yu-Sang Hou, a junior from Taiwan and No. 27 in the Women’s WAGR, headed a group of six players tied for seventh place at 3-over 147. Yu-Sang Hou, who had some huge moments in the Wildcats’ run to the 2018 NCAA crown, bounced back from an opening-round 76 with a 1-under 71 in the afternoon.

   A pair of Maryland players, Virunpat Olankitkunchai, a junior from Thailand, and Xiaolin Tian, a senior from China, also landed in that group tied for seventh at 147.

   Olankitkunchai matched par in the morning with a 72 before finishing up with a 75. Tian opened with a solid 1-under 71 before cooling off with a 76 in the afternoon.

   Rounding out the group at 3-over were Texas State’s Sasikam Somboonsup, a senior from Thailand, Illinois’ Crystal Wang, a senior from Diamond Bar, Calif., and Alice Gotbring, a sophomore from Sweden who is competing as an individual for Barry, a South Florida Division II power.

   Somboonsup and Wang each matched par in the afternoon with a 72 after opening with a 75 and Gotbring added a 74 to her opening round of 1-over 73.

   Leading the way for Penn State was its standout freshman Mathilde Delavallade of France, who added a 77 to her opening-round 76 to land among the group tied for 34^th place at 9-over 153.

   Senior Megan McLean, a Voorhees High product, shaved three shots off her opening-round 79 with a 4-under 76 in the afternoon that left her in the group tied for 42^nd place at 155. McLean was back in the lineup after missing the Nittany Lions’ last outing at the UCF Challenge last month with an injury.

   Sarah Willis, a sophomore from Eaton, Ohio, had a pair of 79s and was tied for 53^rd place at 158. Senior Madelein Herr, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Council Rock North, was a shot behind Willis in the group tied for 55^th place at 159 after she added a 79 to her opening-round 80.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was junior Olivia Zambruno, the 2016 PIAA Class AA champion as a senior at Greensburg Central Catholic who struggled to rounds of 83 and 80 to land among the group tied for 68^th place at 163. Zambruno was the runnerup in the Pennsylvania Women’s Amateur Championship last summer at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Militia Hill Course.

   Penn State head coach Denise St. Pierre also brought along another freshman, Isha Dhruva of Katy, Texas, to compete as an individual and she added a 79 to her opening-round 77 to join the group tied for 46^th place at 156.