Maguire sisters advance in NCAAs as Mehaffey's ASU bows out
Leona Maguire
Lisa and Leona Maguire advanced to the final strokeplay qualifying round in the NCAA Division 1 Women's Championship in Oklahoma but Olivia Mehaffey's Arizona State missed out on a count back.
Mehaffey closed with a level par 72 to give the defending champions a fighting chance at Karsten Creek. But while her efforts helped Arizona State raily to tie for 15th place with Louisville, Auburn and Wake Forest on 39 over— just 15 colleges contest the fourth and final strokeplay qualifying round — they lost out on the individual card count back with their fifth
Duke advanced to the fourth round in sixth place with Leona Maguire tied for 17th on three-over after a third round 71, ten shots behind Alabama's Cheyenne Knight and Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho.
Lisa is 79th on three-over after a third round 83.
The top eight teams after today's fourth round advance to the matchplay quarter-finals.
Duke University reported:
“I think we have played, probably not our best golf, we have played decent golf,” commented Maguire. “I think we still have a lot more in us. So if we can have our best day tomorrow – I think we need to hole a few more putts. I think people have really struggled on the greens a little bit, especially with pace putting. We are going to work on that some this afternoon and maybe we can go a few shots lower tomorrow.”
Maguire, a native of Cavan, Ireland turned in a solid one-under, 71, Sunday to move into a tie for 17th overall. It marked her 24th even or under par round of the season, which matches the Duke single-season record held by Amanda Blumenherst and Maguire.
“The course played a lot longer today,” said Maguire. “It was a lot cooler so the ball wasn’t flying as far and the ground was wet. Hit a few woods into holes we were hitting a mid-iron into yesterday. It definitely played different, especially on the front side when it was raining.”
The two-time National Player of the Year, Maguire hit all 18 greens, all 14 fairways and featured a bogey-free round. It marked the first time since her freshman season she has hit all 18 greens in a round. After making par in each of her first nine holes, Maguire stuck her approach to 10 feet on the 362-yard, par four 10th and drained the birdie. She added eight more pars to close her afternoon.
“It was kind of boring I suppose,” said Maguire. “I hit 18 greens and 14 fairways. I struggled a lot with my irons yesterday and found a key yesterday afternoon. Played a lot better [today]. Just played really solidly on a tough golf course. Stayed out of trouble all day. I would have liked to holed a few more putts, but big improvement from yesterday.”
