MAINEVILLE, Ohio – Sophomore Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) is tied for 7th after an opening round even-par, 72, on Friday afternoon in the Big Ten Championship. Penn State is currently tied for 7th following a 9-over, 297.
Michigan State and Maryland were the only two schools in the red on day one coming in at 2-under and 1-under, respectively. Michigan (2-over), Northwestern (3-over) and Nebraska (5-over) round out the top-five. The Nittany Lions are tied with Iowa while Purdue is two strokes clear in sixth at 7-over.
"The 14th and 15th are tough holes, and we gave up a few strokes coming in, but I feel we are in a good position at this point," commented head coach Denise St. Pierre.
Delavallade finished the day 3-under over her final 11 holes erasing an early double-bogey on the third. The even-par round marks her fourth lowest this spring and she sits just three strokes back of Michigan State's Leila Raines. Just six players fired red figures on day one.
"Overall, I had a pretty consistent game today," mentioned Delavallade. "I hit a lot of fairways and greens and was able to secure pars. It's always a nice feeling to start off a tournament with a good round."
Classmate Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) fired a 2-over, 74, and currently sits tied for 24th while junior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) and senior Megan McLean (Lebanon, N.J.) rounded out the four counted team scores carding rounds of 3-over, 75, and 4-over, 76, respectively. Willis is currently tied for 32nd while McLean is tied for 43rd in the 78-player field.
Junior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) and freshman Victoria Tip-Aucha (Vienna, Va.) struggled in the opening round registering scores of 79 and 80 in their first taste of the TPC River's Bend course.
All 13 teams will be back in action for the second-round tomorrow morning with split tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Nittany Lions will be out early off the first tee with times starting at 8:30 a.m. and concluding at 9:15 a.m. and they will be paired with Iowa and Rutgers.
FULL ROUND 1 RESULTS
