Solid start for Leona Maguire in NCAAs
Leona Maguire. Picture: Tim Cowie
Duke's Leona Maguire opened with a level par 72 as sister Lisa matched Arizona State's Olivia Mehaffey with a five over 77 at the NCAA Division 1 National Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Oklahoma
The top eight teams after 72 holes go through to the matchplay quarter-finals on Tuesday with Duke fifth and holders Arizona State 22nd after the opening round in Stillwater.
Leona birdied three of her final six holes on the front nine to make the turn at two-under but eventually bogeyed two of the last four for a 72 to end the day tied for 11th, seven shots behind Duke's Jennifer Kupcho, who shot a course record equalling, seven-under 65 for a three-stroke lead.
“It was a little mixed,” said Maguire, who will turn professional after the event.
“I got off to a nice start. I gave myself a few chances on the front nine. It was a little iffy coming in. I played some solid golf, but this golf course, if you get out of position at all, it was pretty penal.
"Overall, level par is a solid round to start off with. I would have liked to be a few more under, but we have an early start tomorrow and hopefully post a low one tomorrow.
“The rough was pretty thick out there. You can get a ball in there that just disappears. Fairways and greens are paramount really - trying to give yourself as many chances as possible.
"Greens are pretty quick – trying to stay below the hole is hard. You have to play some really nice golf to do well on this course.”
Duke are seven shots behind Southern California (291), who lead by one stroke from Alabama (292). UCLA (294), Kent State (296), Duke (298), Northwestern (299), Louisville (301), Arizona (301), Florida State (301), Florida (303) and Washington (303).
Lisa Maguire had a great up-and-down par on the first hole and then sank a 45-foot birdie putt on the 377-yard, par four second to get to one-under.
She then bogeyed the sixth, ninth, 10th and 13th and double-bogeyed the 17th for her 77 as Mehaffey tripled the 17th but birdied the last to match her in 68th spot.
NCAA Div 1 National Championship, Karsten Creek, Stillwater, Oklahoma (Par 72)
1 Southern California +3 F +3 291 291
2 Alabama +4 F +4 292 292
3 UCLA +6 F +6 294 294
4 Kent State +8 F +8 296 296
5 Duke +10 F +10 298 298
6 Northwestern +11 F +11 299 299
T7 Louisville +13 F +13 301 301
T7 Arizona +13 F +13 301 301
T7 Florida State +13 F +13 301 301
T10 Florida +15 F +15 303 303
T10 Washington +15 F +15 303 303
12 Auburn +16 F +16 304 304
T13 Colorado +18 F +18 306 306
T13 Wake Forest +18 F +18 306 306
15 Oklahoma +19 F +19 307 307
T16 Stanford +20 F +20 308 308
T16 Arkansas +20 F +20 308 308
18 Texas +21 F +21 309 309
19 Ohio State +22 F +22 310 310
20 Furman +24 F +24 312 312
21 Baylor +25 F +25 313 313
22 Arizona State +26 F +26 314 314
23 Virginia +27 F +27 315 315
24 Ole Miss +32 F +32 320 320
1 Jennifer Kupcho Wake Forest 65 -7
2 Janet Mao Northwestern 68 -4
3 Jillian Hollis * Georgia, U. of 69 -3
T4 Morgane Metraux Florida State 70 -2
T4 Cheyenne Knight Alabama 70 -2
T4 Rose Huang * Brigham Young 70 -2
T7 Pimnipa Panthong Kent State 71 -1
T7 Patty Tavatanakit UCLA 71 -1
T7 Leonie Harm * Houston 71 -1
T7 Bianca Pagdanganan Arizona 71 -1
T11 Micheala Williams * Tennessee 72 E
T11 Jaclyn Lee Ohio State 72 E
T11 Lilia Vu UCLA 72 E
T11 Dylan Kim Arkansas 72 E
T11 Allisen Corpuz Southern California 72 E
T11 Jennifer Chang Southern California 72 E
T11 Leona Maguire Duke 72 E
T11 Jess Yuen * Missouri 72 E
T19 Kayley Marschke Auburn 73 +1
T19 Kim Metraux Florida State 73 +1
T19 Lauren Hartlage Louisville 73 +1
T19 Amelia Garvey Southern California 73 +1
T19 Kristen Gillman Alabama 73 +1
T19 Maddie Szeryk * Texas A&M 73 +1
T19 Emma Broze * Oklahoma State 73 +1
T19 Alice Chen Furman 73 +1
T19 Sierra Brooks Florida 73 +1
T68 Lisa Maguire Duke 77 +5
T68 Olivia Mehaffey Arizona State 77 +5
