DALLAS –
Mikhaela Fortuna was one of three golfers in the field to finish under par in the Big 12 Championship opening round and Oklahoma women's golf tied for fourth (8-over, 296) at Dallas Athletic Club on Friday.
Fortuna fired a 1-under 71 and is tied with Oklahoma State's Maddison Hinson-Tolchard. Iowa State's Pimkwan Chookaew finished 5-under 67.
"We started strong under very tough conditions and played solid," said Oklahoma head women's golf coach
Veronique Drouin-Luttrell. "I'm proud of our fight today. We have a great game plan and we need to continue to do what we're doing."
Fortuna tallied a pair of birdies on the third and 15th holes and suffered her only setback of the round on the sixth. She led the field with 15 pars on Friday.
"Mikhaela played well and was very steady," said Drouin-Luttrell. "She made clutch putts in key moments to save pars."
Savannah Barber and
Reagan Chaney joined Fortuna in the top 15. Barber finished her first 18 holes 1-over 73 and is tied for seventh. Chaney finished one stroke behind Barber and tied for 11th (2-over, 74).
Barber held a clean scorecard through the front nine and recorded her first birdie of the day on the ninth, finishing the first nine 1-under 35. After moving to 2-over through 11, she tallied her second birdie of the day on the 13th. Barber finished her final two holes with a bogey and birdie, respectively.
Chaney tallied two birdies in her first five holes and concluded the front nine 1-under 35. Chaney moved back to even on the 10th and dropped two additional strokes on the 16th and 17th.
Emily Hun finished 6-over 78 and enters the second day tied for 32nd. Hun recorded a birdie on the 10th and finished 2-over 38 on the back nine.
Kaylee Vesely tied for 37th (7-over, 79).
UP NEXT
The Sooners are paired with Baylor and Iowa State for the second round. The trio open play on Saturday, April 22 at 9 a.m.