Four-shot win after shooting bogey-free 68 today. Second Arkansas woman (Stacy Lewis) to win the NCAA individual title, third Hog (R.H. Sikes in 1963) overall.
Team is fourth and will play Wake Forest in match play tomorrow. Wake girl holed out from the fairway on 18 for an eagle for their fifth place margin over Arizona. WF, of course, has Jennifer Kupcho who beat Fassi at Augusta National. Given that we have two girls who are not playing well, tomorrow won’t be easy. And if we beat Wake in the morning, another match play round in the afternoon, against either Texass or probably Auburn – if Auburn can finish its round today. War Chickens have four-shot edge over Illinois, which is through the round, at the moment.
really cool walk up 18 with a Hog Call by Maria. I’m thinking Dylan Kim will return to form as a senior given that she won Big 12 at Baylor. We could be real contention. Kupcho was an interesting interview while Maria walked up to her almost birdie to close the deal. Golf Channel seems to like this coverage. I guess Seoul sisters go pro early, no real dominating presence like they have on the LPGA.
Kim played well today after not so hot for two days. Benton and Matthews were bad today after two good days. If two of those three play well, we can survive; Fassi is probably going to have her hands full with Kupcho. Gonna need at least four to play well to make it to Wednesday though.
Third round isn’t over yet. Auburn will have to come back out in the morning to try and hang on. Texas, Duke, and USC will all have to finish in the AM as well. Match play pairings won’t be known ‘til those rounds are over.
Yep, as I noted above. if Auburn could finish. Auburn gave away a shot right before it got dark and is up by 3. Duke is up 3 on USC, so they could swap places tomorrow. However, Duke and USC only have one player each that haven’t finished, and they’re both on 18, so those two players would have to have a three-shot swing in one hole themselves. Texas appears pretty safe at #1 with an 8-shot lead.
Fassi’s 211 is the lowest score ever for an NCAA championship. Of course, it was only the third time that the championship was 54 holes and not 72.
The other 54-hole winners were Arizona State’s Monica Vaughn (1-over 217) at Rich Harvest Farms in 2017, and Arizona State’s Grace Park (1-under 212) at Tulsa Country Club in 1999.
Not sure how they do the pairings for match play but if I’m Shauna and I can control it, I try to sacrifice Gonzales to Kupcho. Of course, with how competitive Fassi is she may say, “I want Kupcho!”
The coaches choose the pairings. The higher seeded team has the opportunity to pick first in pairing No. 1, the lower seeded team picks first in pairing No. 2, higher seeded team picks first in pairing No. 3, and so on. The higher seeded team can also defer to the lower seeded team first, which is what Arkansas did.
Arkansas wrote in Fassi in the No. 2 spot, then Wake countered with Knecht.
The strategy is to give the team enough head-to-head matchups that are winnable. Matching Kupcho vs. Fassi would be a bold move for either team.