OU Makes Move at Big 12s

April 26, 2008

STILLWATER, Okla. - The No. 41 Oklahoma Sooners made up ground on day two of the 2008 Big 12 Women's Golf Championship, shooting a team score of 315 to move into sixth place with 18 holes to play. OU will be grouped with fourth-place Texas and fifth-place Nebraska in Sunday's final round at 6,210-yard, par-72 Karsten Creek. The Sooners trail the Cornhuskers by seven strokes and the Longhorns by 10.

"First of all, I think we just settled down a little bit today," OU head coach Carol Ludvigson said. "We played smarter into the greens. We didn't pin-seek as much, and we played to the smart quadrants. The second thing is that we still had big numbers that hurt us, but only about half as much as yesterday. We played a lot smarter and we're getting used to the greens a little bit better. Our lag putting has gotten a lot better."

Kendall Dye posted a four-over-par 76 Saturday to lead the way for OU. The junior from Edmond, Okla., was four-over through 15 holes for the second consecutive day, but shot even-par on the final three holes in the second round for an eight-shot improvement. Dye now stands tied for 16th place at 160 (+16), 12 shots out of Jaclyn Sweeney's (Oklahoma State) lead.

"Kendall played really solid," Ludvigson said. "I think maybe she had one bad hole, and that was basically just a mis-clubbing. It wasn't necessarily a mistake, it was just one of those she hit a little bit hot and got into a bad situation. Her play was very consistent."

Senior Kelly Jacques had a solid day as well for the Sooners, carding a 77 (+5). After starting 5-over through the first eight holes, she played the final 10 in even-par. She is tied for 18th place, one stroke behind teammate Dye at 161 (+17).

"Kelly really came from behind because she started out five-over pretty quick and she gutted it out," Coach Ludvigson said. "She really worked her tail off to come on in and shoot what she did. That just shows how good she is as far as focusing and not thinking about her score, but really just focusing on making pars and making good putts. Just taking one shot at a time."

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Heather Wright shot her second consecutive 82 (+10) to put her in a tie for 26th place at 164 (+20). The senior from Houston, Texas, stayed steady most of the day with pars on 12 of the 18 holes.

"Heather made 12 pars and just had two big holes," Ludvigson said.

Ellen Mueller, the freshman from Evansville, Ind., had two birdies Saturday en route to a round of 80 (+8). Mueller has three of the Sooners' five birdies this weekend, which are hard to come by at Karsten Creek. She is tied for 31st place at 165 (+21).

"Ellen was doing really well and then had a triple and a double back-to-back," Ludvigson said. "But she came in with three pars coming on in, so that shows a lot of guts. It shows her ability to just relax a little bit and realize how important every shot is."

Sophomore Ryanne Elmer remained in 60th place after her second-round 91 (+19), a six-stroke improvement from Friday's opening 18 holes.

Host Oklahoma State increased its lead over second-place Texas A&M to 14 strokes going into the final round. The Cowgirls have a two-day team score of 605 (+29).

The Sooners moved up three places with their Saturday performance, and look to do more of the same in Sunday's final round.

"I think first of all, the wind is going to be completely from the opposite direction again like yesterday, so we really need to be smart as far as remembering where we want the ball to be on the green," Coach Ludvigson said. "Also, off the tee box, there are a couple spots that we need to play pretty smart because of the wind shift. From there we need to take what we learned today and how we did today, and minimize our mistakes as far as the big holes. That's going to be the key. If we can stay bogey or better, we will be in third place. That's the goal."

The final round of the Big 12 Championship begins Sunday at 9 a.m. CDT, with OU going off on the front nine.

Team Standings
1. Oklahoma State - 303-302=605 (+29)
2. Texas A&M - 315-304=619 (+43)
3. Missouri - 317-319=636 (+60)
4. Texas - 321-319=640 (+64)
5. Nebraska - 326-317=643 (+67)
6. Oklahoma - 335-315=650 (+74)
7. Texas Tech - 334-318=652 (+76)
8. Iowa State - 331-326=657 (+81)
9. Kansas - 333-325=658 (+82)
10. Kansas State - 335-324=659 (+83)
11. Colorado - 351-322=673 (+97)
12. Baylor - 344-338=682 (+106)

Individual Standings
1. Jaclyn Sweeney, Oklahoma State - 74-74=148 (+4)
2. Sarah Zwartynski, Texas A&M - 77-73=150 (+6)
3. Karin Kinnerud, Oklahoma State - 76-76=152 (+8)
T4. Pernilla Lindberg, Oklahoma State - 75-78=153 (+9)
T4. Danielle McVeigh, Texas A&M - 78-75=153 (+9)

OU Individual Standings
T16. Kendall Dye - 84-76=160 (+16)
T18. Kelly Jacques - 84-77=161 (+17)
T26. Heather Wright - 82-82=164 (+20)
T31. Ellen Mueller - 85-80=165 (+21)
60. Ryanne Elmer - 97-91=188 (+44)

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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