COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State women's golf team is currently third in the 14-team field at 9-under following the opening 36 holes of the Lady Buckeye Invitational.
The Nittany Lions are nine shots back of the host Buckeyes (18-under) while Michigan State sits in second at 11-under just two shots ahead of Penn State. Maryland (4-under) and Minnesota (1-over) round out the top-5 heading into Sunday's final round.
The Nittany Lions raced out of the gates early Saturday morning tying an 18-hole school record with a 10-under opening round to sit in second place just one stroke behind the host Buckeyes. The second round started slow as Penn State gave some shots back, but they rebounded nicely finishing the final six holes of the afternoon at 7-under for a serviceable 1-over second round team total.
"I am very proud of the team for their performance today," commented head coach Denise St. Pierre. "They worked hard the last few weeks preparing for this golf course and they were patient and played to what the course gave them today."
Senior Sarah Willis (Eaton, Ohio) paced the Nittany Lions finishing with a season-low 5-under, 67, in the opening round and backed that up with a 4-under, 68, in the second round. Willis started strong carding birdies on four of her first six holes of the morning round after beginning her day on the par-5 12th hole. Willis registered just two bogeys with 11 birdies over 36 holes on Saturday. The senior is currently in a three-way tie for the lead at 9-under entering Sunday's final round.
"I made a lot of strides today towards playing my best. I really focused on believing in myself on every shot and working to stay focused all the way until the end," stated Willis. "I kept telling myself to have faith over fear and to just get out of my own way and let myself play as well as possible. It wasn't necessarily one part of my game working better than others but everything working together towards the end goal."
Senior Mathilde Delavallade (Royan, France) also had a strong opening 18 holes finishing her first round with birdies on three of her final five holes to register a 4-under, 68, and followed that up with a 1-under, 71, in the second round. Delavallade is currently fifth in the 87-player field at 5-under.
Senior Isha Dhruva (Katy, Texas) rattled off three birdies over her final four holes including back-to-back to close her opening round at 3-under, 69, and in a tie for eighth. She slipped a bit in her second round carding a 5-over, 77, and is currently tied for 25th at 2-over for the championship. The 3-under opening round for Dhruva is her best 18-hole score of the season and it ties a career low mark set last spring.
Sophomore Michelle Cox (Allentown, Pa.) was consistent over the 36 holes as she contributed the fourth counted score each round firing round of 74 and 75 and is currently 5-over and in a tie for 41st.
Senior Taylor Waller (Canonsburg, Pa.) carded rounds of 6-over and 3-over while sophomore Drew Nienhaus (St. Louis, Mo.) registered rounds of 8-over and 6-over to round out the scoring.
Penn State is back on the course tomorrow morning for the final round with another 8:30 a.m. shotgun start.
Complete results for the first and second rounds can be seen HERE.
