Knight in Contention for Individual Medalist Honors After Two Rounds at NCAA Championships
Alabama freshman Cheyenne Knight shot a 3-under par 69 on Saturday and is tied for fourth place in the individual competition after the second round of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships at the par-72, 6,331-yard Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.Knight (69-69/138) is three shots off the individual lead entering Sunday’s third round. As a team, Alabama (300-292/592) shot a 4-over par 292 in the second round and sits in 21st place in the team race.
“Overall it was a pretty good round,” Knight said. “The golf course, I love it. It fits my eye perfectly. My driver is my favorite club and I hit it pretty straight. The greens are so firm you can’t really put any spin on it and there are spots on the green where you just can’t be. Take a lot of pars and get your birdies where you can.”
Senior Emma Talley (77-73/150) was one-over par today. Sophomore Lakareber Abe (78-74/152) was two-over par. Senior Janie Jackson (76-76/152) was four-over par and sophomore Nicole Morales (78-81/159) was nine-over par to round out the scoring for Alabama.
“I was glad to see everybody finish stronger today,” head coach Mic Potter said. “We just keep leaving some shots out there that we can’t at this point. But Cheyenne’s playing great and has a chance so we just have to keep plugging along. I thought the course set up great for her. She drives the ball really straight, has good distance control and she’s a really good putter.”
USC (289-280/569) leads the team race at seven-under par through two rounds. The Trojans are followed by Washington (289-285/574), UCLA (286-291/577), Stanford (295-283/578), Oregon (297-282/579) and Oklahoma State (284-295/579).
The top 15 teams after Sunday’s third round will advance to the final round of stroke play on Monday, May 23 to compete for a spot in the eight-team match play round that begins on Tuesday, May 24. The top nine individuals at the end of the third round who are not members of the 15 team finalists will advance to Monday’s final stroke play round as well to compete for individual medalist honors.
Alabama will start Sunday’s third round from Hole No. 1 and will tee off at 1:06 p.m. PT (3:06 p.m. CT). The Tide will be paired with Texas and Miami (Fla.)