University of Washington
NCAA Championships
Dawgs Rally, Climb To Eighth At NCAA's
May 25, 2015 | Women's Golf
Live Scoring | NCAA Championships Central
BRADENTON, Fla. – Slow play and afternoon lightning storms continued to plague the NCAA Championships at The Concession Golf Club, but it did not stop the Huskies from their best round of the tournament. The Dawgs shot 9-over 297 to climb to eighth place after three rounds.
A short delay for lightning just before the Huskies made the turn seemed to be just what they needed as Washington played its best golf of the week after the interruption.
“Today put us in the position that we needed,” said head coach Mary Lou Mulflur. “They really rallied after the delay.”
The 54-hole totals are not yet official as six teams need to finish their third round on Monday morning, but Washington is safely inside the cut down to 15 teams. Instead, the Huskies will turn their attention to the 72-hole cut that includes just eight teams that will move on to match play.
Washington did not start well and looked as if it may be in danger of moving outside the top-15, but got things together after the delay on the back nine where they shot 2-under to climb to eighth. The Dawgs are now 50-over for the tournament as just eight strokes separate fourth from 10th.
“I feel like I have seen that before,” said Mulflur. “This group is so gritty, so tough and so resilient. They just kept battling until some of the putts started to drop.”
No. 1 USC leads at 28-over, while No. 4 Duke is second at 31-over, but both of those teams still have several holes to play Monday to finish their third round. The top team that has completed the third round is No. 5 Arizona who is third at 41-under. The Huskies are two shots back of seventh-place No. 13 Stanford and one shot ahead of No. 22 UC Davis, who they will play the fourth round with on Monday if the places hold.
The Huskies were once again led by Charlotte Thomas who got off to another troublesome start, before catching fire on the back nine. Thomas bogeyed four of her first six holes, mixing in a birdie on the par-five third to shoot 3-over 39 on the front.
The back was an entirely different story as Thomas drove the green on the par-four 12th hole and converted an eagle from six feet. She'd then birdie 13, 16 and 17, nearly missing yet another eagle on the 17th. Despite a bogey on 18 that was nearly avoided with what would have been a miraculous up and down from behind the green to a front pin, Thomas shot 4-under 32 on the back nine. Her total of 1-under 71 for the day moved her to 6-over for the week and into a tie for 11th overall.
“What Charlotte did today is just so impressive,” said Mulflur. “She knew what was at stake and really came through for us.”
Thomas was not the only Husky to finish strong as Jennifer Yang made huge birdies on 17 and 18 to shoot even on the back and 2-over 74 overall. Yang also had a slow start, bogeying the first two holes, but made three birdies and three bogeys the rest of the way. Like Thomas, Yang nearly eagled 17, reaching the green in two and having an eagle putt just slide by. Yang is now tied for 36th for the week at 12-over.
Also shooting 2-over 74 was Eimi Koga who was the lone Husky to start fast, birdying the second hole to shoot 1-under 35 on the front. On the back, Koga made a costly double-bogey on the 13th, but was still solid overall, making 15 pars on the day. The sophomore could have easily joined Thomas in red figures as she had several good looks for birdie, but could not convert. She is now 13-over for the week and tied for 42nd.
Cyd Okino was the other Husky to get it going on the back nine, shooting 1-under 35 on the way in. The senior birdied No. 12, but otherwise made eight pars. For the round, Okino shot 6-over 78 as a slow start brought down her overall total. Through six holes, Okino was 7-over and looked sure to be the score not used, but remarkably played the last 12 holes at 1-under. She is now 21-over for the week and tied for 83rd.
Tying Okino with a round of 6-over 78 was Ying Luo. She was the only Husky to play even nines, shooting 3-over 39 on each side. She also birdied the 12th as Washington played that hole at 4-under for the day. Luo is now tied for 74th at 19-over for the week.
Pairings for the fourth round are yet to be released, but it will begin at 10:50 a.m. local time or 7:50 a.m. in Seattle. If the current places hold, the Dawgs would tee off No. 10 with Stanford and UC Davis at 12:30 p.m. local time. The fourth round will be the beginning of the live coverage on the Golf Channel, which will begin at 4 p.m. local time or 1 p.m., PT.
“We have been working towards the goal of winning a National Championship all year,” said Mulflur. “I feel like we are right on schedule towards achieving that. Today was the real pick-me-up that we needed.”
Players Mentioned
