HANAHAN, S.C. – Junior Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) tied her career-low with a 1-under, 71, in the second round of the 17th annual Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Club on Monday afternoon and currently sits tied for 24th at even-par for the tournament to pace the Nittany Lions.
"I took things shot-by-shot which helped me stay present out on the course and I felt comfortable with my putting today." commented Dhruva.
As a team Penn State carded rounds of 291 (3-over) and 293 (5-over) and is currently 12th in the 17-team field after the opening day in South Carolina. The Nittany Lions are second out of the four Big Ten teams in this week's field trailing only Michigan State by six strokes heading into Tuesday's final round. Wisconsin (10-over) and Maryland (18-over) round out the conference opponents.
The 19th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs lead the field at 16-under following a blistering 14-under score in the second round. No. 18 Arkansas (11-under), No. 21 Florida (9-under), UCF (9-under) and No. 15 Baylor (8-under) round out the top-five.
Senior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) used a 1-under, 71, in the second round to improve her position following an opening round 74 as she currently sits tied for 31st position.
Junior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) continued her torrid early season start registering her fourth-consecutive round in red figures to open the season with a 1-under, 71, during the first round and currently sits tied for 35th after giving a few shots back during her second round of the day.
Freshman Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) carded rounds of 73 and 76 while sophomore Victoria Tip-Aucha (Vienna, Va.) rounded out the team scores with rounds of 78 and 77.
"[Yeamans Hall] is the type of course that when you miss the green, the up and down is challenging, but we did make some good par saves throughout the day," mentioned head coach Denise St. Pierre. "We had some mistakes with club selections to certain hole locations, however, I think the team learned some things that will help them tomorrow."
Penn State will be back on the course tomorrow with an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start in the final round.
