Gator Country

ST. GEORGE, Utah - Redshirt sophomore Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) provided some late heroics for the Orange and Blue on Friday in the second round of the 2007 NCAA West Regional, birdying her last three holes to finish the day with a round of 76 (+5). UF found itself in 12th place and six strokes off the cut with just Jouven left on the course, but her birdie spree catapulted the Lady Gators into a three-way tie for 10th, a mere three strokes away from eighth place. Florida will enter the final round of play with a team total of 613 (+45), having registered a score of 304 (+20) on Friday.

Jouven, who birdied just one hole on the afternoon prior to her three-hole outburst, has put together a two-round total of 148 (+6), and will open play on Saturday in a tie for 18th place.

“That tremendous finish sends us into tomorrow with great momentum,” Florida head coach Jill Briles-Hinton said. “All the girls fought hard today, and no one got down on themselves. We had a lot of pars and a few birdies down the stretch, and Ornella really stood up for us again today. That finish was just outstanding.”

A birdie on the par-three eighth hole, her second-to-last of the day, helped junior Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) head into the clubhouse with a three-over 74 on Friday. She played her last nine holes at one under par, sinking two of her four birdies on the day during that stretch. Gal’s second-round performance bettered her total from the first round by three strokes. Her 36-hole total of 151 (+9) positions her in a 32nd-place tie heading into the final round of play.

The Lady Gators’ biggest improvement on day two of the West Regional came from junior Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.), who carded a five-over 76 that included a pair of birdies. The effort was 10 strokes better than her round-one score, and moved her into a tie for 79th place after 36 holes of competition with a total of 162 (+20).

Sophomore Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky.) posted a second-round 78 (+7) on Friday, finishing the day in a deadlock for 37th place with a two-round total of 152 (+10). Junior Tiffany Chudy (Miramar, Fla.) recorded a second-round 83 (+12), running her total to 169 (+27) for the tournament.

“We’re very much in this golf tournament, which is all you can ask right now,” Briles-Hinton said. “The players understand that there is no tomorrow if we don’t get the job done, but we certainly don’t need to panic. The key will be playing conservatively and not getting too anxious. I know we’ll come out tomorrow with as much guts as we showed today.”

Oklahoma State used the day’s best round, a six-over 290, to take control of the team lead after 36 holes, while the Cowgirls’ Pernilla Lindberg fired her second-consecutive round of 68 (-3) to maintain her post atop the individual leader board. Play will resume at 9:30 a.m. EST on Saturday. The top eight teams, as well as the top two individuals not on an advancing squad, will qualify for the NCAA Championships. Scoring will be done live on the Internet at http://www.golfstat.com, and can also be accessed at http://www.gatorzone.com.

Team Standings Through Round Two
Place School Score
1. Oklahoma State 291-290 = 581 (+13)
2. Stanford 287-300 = 587 (+19)
3. Arizona State 294-296 = 590 (+22)
4. UC-Irvine 295-302 = 597 (+29)
5. Pepperdine 301-299 = 600 (+32)
6. BYU 291-311 = 602 (+34)
7. Denver 299-306 = 605 (+37)
T8. New Mexico 298-312 = 610 (+42)
T8. Washington State 301-309 = 610 (+42)
T10. San Jose State 308-305 = 613 (+45)
T10. FLORIDA 309-304 = 613 (+45)
T10. Campbell 305-308 = 613 (+45)
13. Idaho 308-309 = 617 (+49)
14. Hawaii 313-306 = 619 (+51)
15. San Francisco 310-316 = 626 (+58)
16. California 321-307 = 628 (+60)
17. UNLV 319-310 = 629 (+61)
18. Memphis 320-312 = 632 (+64)
19. Sacramento State 318-318 = 636 (+68)
20. Nebraska 328-309 = 637 (+69)
21. Columbia 335-310 = 645 (+77)

Individual Top-10 Through Round Two
Place Player Score
1. Pernilla Lindberg (Oklahoma State) 68-68 = 136 (-6)
2. Misun Cho (Pepperdine) 71-70 = 141 (-1)
T3. Amanda Johnson (Oklahoma State) 70-74 = 144 (+2)
T3. Juliana Murcia (Arizona State) 73-71 = 144 (+2)
T5. Jayvie Agojo (Pepperdine) 70-75 = 145 (+3)
T5. Mari Chun (Stanford) 73-73 = 145 (+3)
T5. Rachel Newren (BYU) 72-73 = 145 (+3)
T5. Lehua Wise (New Mexico State) 73-72 = 145 (+3)
T9. Jodi Ewart (New Mexico) 71-75 = 146 (+4)
T9. Anna Nordqvist (Arizona State) 72-74 = 146 (+4)
T9. Sara Ovadia (Columbia) 76-70 = 146 (+4)
T9. Stephanie Sherlock (Denver) 70-76 = 146 (+4)
T9. Catherina Wang (Stanford) 73-73 = 146 (+4)

Florida Results Through Round Two
Place Player Score
T18. Ornella Jouven 72-76 = 148 (+6)
T32. Sandra Gal 77-74 = 151 (+9)
T37. Mallory Blackwelder 74-78 = 152 (+10)
T79. Whitney Myers 86-76 = 162 (+20)
98. Tiffany Chudy 86-83 = 169 (+27)

More Other Sports | RSS