OU Extends Lead at Dale McNamara Invitational

Oct. 12, 2010

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Oklahoma women's golf team widened its lead Tuesday at the Dale McNamara Invitational after firing a second-round 291 (+3) at the par-72 Patriot Golf Course in Owasso, Okla. The Sooners, who began the day tied for first with UNLV, sit on top of the 16-team field with an overall score of 583 (+7), eight strokes ahead of second-place Oklahoma State.

"I'm very proud of the way the girls played today. They fought the whole round," said OU head coach Veronique Drouin. "The conditions were tough. The wind picked up and we were on the course for seven hours. We have to keep up our game plan tomorrow. We've been working hard all year to be in this position."

Along with leading the team portion of the tournament, OU is also represented at the top of the individual standings. Senior Ellen Mueller, who shot a tournament-record 67 (-5) yesterday, carded a second-round 73 (+1) Tuesday to maintain her lead over the field of 90 competitors.

The senior's total score of 140 (-4) places her one stroke ahead of second-place Ashley Haggard of Middle Tennessee State and Kristina Merkle of Tulsa.

Mueller is joined in the top five by teammate Taylor Schmidt, who shot a career-low 70 (-2) Tuesday. The sophomore collected five birdies and recorded the tournament's second-lowest score of the day. Schmidt is 1 under overall and tied for fifth place.

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"Today I did good job of staying in the present like Coach Drouin always says," said Schmidt. "I took it one shot at a time and didn't get ahead of myself. I was able to make some putts today, which definitely gave me a lot of confidence and momentum going into tomorrow."

Freshman Chirapat Jao-Javanil fired an even-par 72 and sits in eighth place at +1. Fellow freshmen Emily Collins (4-over 76) and Anne-Catherine Tanguay (6-over 78) are tied for 47th place.

The Sooners begin their final round of the fall season Wednesday morning at 9:20 CT on hole No. 1. Live stats will be available at Golfstat.com.