Knight Tied for Second Entering Final Round of NCAA Women’s Golf Championships
Alabama’s Cheyenne Knight shot a one-under par 71 on Sunday and is tied for second place in the individual competition after the third round of the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships at the par-72, 6,331-yard Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
Knight (69-69-71/209) is six shots off the individual lead entering Monday’s final round. The freshman from Aledo, Texas trails Duke’s Virginia Elena Carta (69-68-66/203) who is 13-under par after a six-under par performance on Sunday. Should Knight win the individual competition, she will become the second Alabama golfer to win women’s medalist honors in school history, joining teammate Emma Talley, who was the low individual at the 2015 NCAA championships in Bradenton, Fla.
“Overall, I’m really happy with one-under today given the conditions,” Knight said. “Playing in the afternoon was tough. We had the rain and wind and it was colder. The par threes on the back nine were more shot demanding as a result. I think the course played a little tougher today. The pins were tucked in some tough spots too. It will definitely take low number tomorrow but I just want to enjoy the experience and try and get us into the top eight.”
Alabama (300-292-290/882) shot a two-over par 290 in the third round and sits in 14th place in the team race entering Monday’s final stroke play round. The top eight teams after play concludes Monday will advance to match play competition starting Tuesday, May 24, to determine the NCAA team championship.
“It was our low round for the weekend and showed that we can play under par,” head coach Mic Potter said. “The wind came up on the back nine and it cost us five or six shots so it could have been a lot better and gotten us a lot closer to eighth, but we’ve got to play tomorrow to have a chance. We’ll have to shoot well under par.”
Senior Janie Jackson (76-76-72/224) was even par on Sunday. Fellow senior Emma Talley (77-73-73/223) was one-over par. Sophomores Lakareber Abe (78-74-74/226) and Nicole Morales (78-81-79/238) were two- and seven-over par respectively.
USC (289-280-291/860) leads the team race at four-under par through three rounds. UCLA (286-291-285/862) and Duke (299-283-280/862) are second, followed by Washington (289-285-292/866) and Stanford (295-283-290/868).
Alabama will start Monday’s fourth round from Hole No. 10 and will tee off at 11:50 a.m. PT (1:50 p.m. CT). The Tide will be paired with Florida State and North Carolina.
Monday’s fourth round will be televised live on the Golf Channel beginning at 5 p.m. CT.