No. 20 Sooners In Front After 18 Holes

Oct. 11, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. – The University of Oklahoma women's golf team recorded a first-round 292 (+4) Monday to share the lead at the 15-team Dale McNamara Invitational at the Patriot Golf Course in Owasso, Okla. The Sooners, who are No. 20 in the Golfstat/Sagarin rankings, are tied with UNLV, one stroke ahead of third-place Middle Tennessee State.

This marks the third tournament in a row that the Sooners have led after the first round.

“The girls played well all day,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin. “This is the toughest golf course we've seen this year. I'm really proud of the way we played and look forward to tomorrow's round.”

Senior Ellen Mueller's effort was the highlight of OU's day and of her career. The senior caught fire from the beginning and collected six birdies on her way to a career-low 67 (-5) to give herself a one-stroke lead over Tulsa's Kristina Merkle. Only five of the 90 competitors broke par on the day.

“Ellen played great today,” said Drouin. “She hit a ton of solid shots and made the putts.”

Mueller, who was 5 under through eight holes, tied former Sooner Lisa Meldrum for the second lowest 18-hole score in program history. Kim O'Connor holds the record with a 66 at the 1994 Lady Paladin Invitational.

Live Stats | The Patriot Golf Course | Twitter

This marks the second round in a row that Mueller has set a career low. She shot a 69 (-3) in the final round of last week's Johnie Imes Invitational in Columbia, Mo. She also notched a career-low 54-hole score of 213 (-3) in the same tournament.

“I have been striking the ball really well all season, the putts just weren't falling,” said Mueller. “For the past two weeks I focused mainly on putting and now the practice has paid off.”

Sophomore Taylor Schmidt and freshman Chirapat Jao-Javanil birdied four holes apiece to finish at 1 over and are tied for 10th place.

Freshman Anne-Catherine Tanguay, in a tie for 50th place, shot a 79 (+7), while classmate Emily Collins carded an 81 (+9) to finish the day in a tie for 68th.

Oklahoma freshman Mariah Montoya, competing as an individual, shot a 79 (+7) and is tied for 50th place.

The Sooners will tee off Tuesday morning beginning at 8 CT on hole No. 10 Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com.