Dye, Sooners Lead Susie Maxwell

April 6, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - Individual leader Kendall Dye shot her second consecutive under-par round, and the No. 40 University of Oklahoma women's golf team posted a second-round 292 Sunday to remain in the lead through 36 holes at the 30th Susie Maxwell Berning Classic. The Sooners lead second-place Arkansas-Little Rock by seven strokes at the 6,013-yard, par-72 Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.

"I think what we did well is we capitalized when we were in position for birdies," OU head coach Carol Ludvigson said. "We stayed aggressive with our putts and really weren't conservative. As a whole, we really did well to not have any big numbers. We had a lot of pars, and birdies when there were opportunities."

Dye, who tied a season-low in the first round with a 70 (-2), followed it on the second 18 with a 1-under-par 71 (-1). At 3-under, she holds a one-shot lead over Arkansas Little-Rock's Sara Wikstrom.

"We're content with how we played today," the junior Dye said. "We're still going to go try to break par tomorrow as a team. Overall I'm just excited with how we played. Individually, I'm pretty happy with how I played. I hit the ball a lot better today and made some putts on the first 18 that I probably shouldn't have made, but I'll take it and run with it."

Dye had a great day on the greens Sunday, tying for the most birdies by an individual on the day with eight of them.

"On the last 18, I still hit the ball pretty decent, and had some good up and downs," Dye said. "The ball striking is a lot better, which makes putting a lot better because you're putting for birdie instead of trying to putt for par."

Coach Ludvigson was pleased to see Dye put together the kind of day that she did.

"It's exciting to see that Kendall is putting well," Coach Ludvigson said. "That's been a part of her game that has needed to come around for her to be able to shoot under-par. She's got all the talent in the world, and she just needed to break through and have a couple of under-par rounds, which she had today. She was also a little bit ticked that she wasn't further under par, which is a good sign. We're excited about that. Her ball-striking was really good today as well."

First Round Recap | Full Results

Senior Kelly Jacques had another consistent outing, firing her second-straight 72 (E) to stand in a tie for fifth place at 144 (E). She is three strokes out of the lead.

"Kelly is just very consistent," Ludvigson said. "Nothing really rattles her. Even when she didn't hit the ball as well at periods of time today, she got up and down from anywhere. She's able to do that and make it look easy. She has fun doing it too."

Freshman Ellen Mueller is in a tie for 13th place through 36 holes after shooting a second-round 74 (+2).

Sophomore Ryanne Elmer continued her solid play as she posted a 75 (+3) in the second round. She sits in a tie for 28th at 153 (+9).

Senior Heather Wright, who withdrew from the first round with a wrist injury, made a courageous effort to come back in the second round and shoot a 77 (+5).

"We were really playing for Heather this morning because of her wrist injury," Dye said of her teammate.

Junior Staci Smoot and sophomore Andrea Sellmeyer lead the Sooners competing as individuals through two rounds. They are both tied for 48th place at 157 (+13).

Sophomore Chelsey Collins sits in a tie for 64th at 160 (+16), and junior Sydney Lee is alone in 83rd place with a two-round total of 167 (+23).

"Today they were really relaxed, even when they were in difficult positions," Ludvigson said. "They really took the challenge and stepped up. Tomorrow we're going to come out and have the same philosophy we had today, just thinking about the golf course and making birdies when we can. We want to try to stay very level and very calm, but also be intense when we need to. We need to capitalize on the opportunities we have to make birdie."

Monday's final round begins at 8 a.m. CDT with a shotgun start.

"We're just going to try to forget about today and pretend everyone is on an equal playing field tomorrow," Dye said. "We don't want to try to compare today to tomorrow, we just want to go and try to break par. Maybe shoot in the 60s. I think the team can do it, I'm proud of the team. We'll go tomorrow and do it, finish it off."

Team Standings
1. Oklahoma - 295-292=587 (+11)
2. Arkansas-Little Rock - 302-292=594 (+18)
3. Wisconsin - 301-297=598 (+22)
4. Iowa State - 305-294=599 (+23)
5. Baylor - 304-298=602 (+26)
6. Missouri State - 310-293=603 (+27)
7. Kansas - 304-300=604 (+28)
8. Oklahoma City - 306-301=607 (+31)
9. UTEP - 306-304=610 (+34)
10. SMU - 306-307=613 (+37)
11. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - 306-308=614 (+38)
12. Oral Roberts - 314-303=617 (+41)
13. Bucknell - 316-308=624 (+48)
14. North Texas - 312-319=631 (+55)
15. Kennesaw State - 327-311=638 (+62)
16. Old Dominion - 330-317=647 (+71)

Individual Standings
1. Kendall Dye, Oklahoma - 70-71=141 (-3)
2. Sara Wikstrom, Arkansas-Little Rock - 72-70=142 (-2)
T3. Christy Carter, Oral Roberts - 76-67=143 (-1)
T3. Carly Werwie, Wisconsin - 72-71=143 (-1)
T5. Kelly Jacques, Oklahoma - 72-72=144 (E)
T5. Missy Linnens, Missouri State - 74-70=144 (E)
T5. Ashley Sholer, Oklahoma City - 73-71=144 (E)

OU Individual Standings
1. Kendall Dye - 70-71=141 (-3)
T5. Kelly Jacques - 72-72=144 (E)
T13. Ellen Mueller - 75-74=149 (+5)
T28. Ryanne Elmer - 78-75=153 (+9)
T48. Staci Smoot - 76-81=157 (+13)
T48. Andrea Sellmeyer - 76-81=157 (+13)
T64. Chelsey Collins - 82-78=160 (+16)
83. Sydney Lee - 85-82=167 (+23)
WD. Heather Wright - WD-77

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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