Women's Golf Works to Keep Pace at SEC Championship
4/18/2019 3:25:00 PM | Women's Golf
Tigers Improve by One Shot in Day Two, but Can't Gain Ground
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. – Day two has wrapped up at the 2019 SEC Women's Golf Championship, and the Mizzou Tigers improved their team score by one shot from Wednesday's opening-round 299, with a 298 on Thursday. Despite the improvement, the Tigers could not move up the leaderboard, as their two-round total of 597 left them in 13th place, after beginning the day tied for 10th. The final round of stroke play for the championship takes place Friday at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., with the top eight teams advancing to match play, set for Saturday and Sunday.
Head Coach Stephanie Priesmeyer's team isn't out of the running for a top-eight finish, however, as they will enter Friday's final stroke play round just six shots shy of eighth-place LSU's team total of 591 (299-292).
"We're still right there, but obviously we'll need a great effort from everyone tomorrow along with some help," said Priesmeyer.
With rain in the forecast Friday, Priesmeyer said her team will be ready to battle the elements, along with the golf course. "We can play in bad weather, so tomorrow we'll try to look at it as our advantage, and we'll need our 'Missouri Mudder' mentality," she said. "We'll be ready for a wet and messy course. Like I said previously, we just have to do a better job off the tee, we missed too many fairways again today, and this course is really difficult to get into scoring position from off the short grass. We need to do a better job of trusting our lines and our swing thoughts, and if we can execute that we'll have a chance," she said.
Senior Emma Allen (Southampton, England) led Mizzou's efforts Thursday, as she shot an even-par 72, thanks to three birdies on the day. Beginning on the back nine, Allen carded consecutive birdies at holes No. 14 and 15 (both par fours) and added another after the turn on the first hole. She shot even par 36 on both sides, and enters Friday's final round in a tie for 15th place individually at one over par with a 36-hole total of 145 (73-72).
Fellow senior Amanda Kim (O'Fallon, Mo.) finished Thursday at one-over par 73, and her two-round 149 total (76-73) moved her up eight spots on the leaderboard from yesterday. Kim led the Tigers with four birdies today, including two on each side, and she stands tied for 38th overall after 36 holes.
"I thought Emma was real solid all day long, she had a lot of birdie chances and just couldn't get as many of them to drop as she deserved," said Priesmeyer. "Amanda had a great second nine and was real close to stringing together five birdies in a row. She really had her game dialed in today, and I'm excited to see her compete again tomorrow," she said.
Junior Jessica Yuen (Bolingbrook, Ill.) navigated Greystone Thursday at three-over par (76) and is also tied for 38th individually with her 149 total (73-76). She finished the round with three birdies, including a four on the par-five 11th hole, her second of the day.
Senior Cayce Hendrickson (Benton, Ky.) knocked one shot off her opening-round 78, with a five-over par 77 on Thursday to stay tied for 60th overall with a 155 total. Freshman Keagan Dunn (Braselton, Ga.) is just two shots behind Hendrickson, at 157 strokes, thanks to rounds of 77 Wednesday and 80 Thursday.
Live scoring for the event can be found online at www.golfstat.com, or at www.secsports.com.
For all the latest on Mizzou Women's Golf, stay tuned to www.MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MUWomensGolf) and on Facebook at MizzouWomensGolf.
Players Mentioned
