CORAL GABLES, Florida – Northwestern carded a school-record 275 in Tuesday's second round of the 2016 Hurricane Invitational to open a 15-shot lead over their closest competitors heading into the final round of play. Sophomore Hannah Kim sits atop the individual leaderboard at 7-under, with teammate Kacie Komoto in second at 4-under and all five scoring Wildcats in the Top-20 heading into Round 3.
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – TEAM LEADERBOARD
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
The two-time defending champion Wildcats are in search of a third straight title in south Florida this week at Biltmore Golf Course (Par 71; 6,080yds), a Donald Ross course. The course has proven hospitable to Northwestern, with the 'Cats turning in two of the six-lowest 54-hole team scores in program history in the last two visits.
Northwestern enters Wednesday's final round of play within striking distance of the 54-hole program record, an 849 carded this fall at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championships. Prior to Tuesday's record-setting performance, Monday's opening-round 277 tied the best single-round team score in program history.
"I was really proud of how we hung in there today," said head coach Emily Fletcher. "The group stayed patient throughout and then made some putts on the back nine."
Northwestern's five scoring golfers in the 5-count-4 format carded 14 birdies collectively on the back nine Tuesday.
Kim, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, ended Monday's round in first place and never surrendered that perch on Tuesday. The sophomore turned in a blemish-free second round with three birdies and 15 pars, carding a 3-under 68 for a 7-under total and three-stroke lead after 36 holes. Her nine birdies rank second in the field through two days. Kim will tee off on Wednesday with a shot at the Wildcats 54-hole program record, a 206 by Stephanie Lau at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship.
Right on her teammate's heels, Kacie Komoto matched a first-round 69 with an identical second-round score to stand at 4-under through 36 holes. No player in the tournament has recorded more pars than the junior's 28 after two days of competition.
Perhaps nobody in the field displayed a second-round surge quite like Wildcats All American Suchaya Tangkamolprasert. The senior made her spring competition debut on Monday with an opening round 75. Through 11 holes on Tuesday she was 1-over, with a pair of birdies and a bogey, but the Bangkok native went on to birdie five of the final seven holes to record a 4-under 67 and leap 35 spots up the leaderboard for a share of tenth-place.
Sophomore Sarah Cho also sits in tenth at even par for the tournament, while freshman Stephanie Lau is in 17th after an even-par 71 on Tuesday and classmate Janet Mao is in 45th competing as an individual.
Northwestern will tee off the final round at 7:30 a.m. ET paired with second-place Iowa State (-1) and third-place Tulsa (+7).
Northwestern – 1/16 • 277-275-R3=552 (-16)
1 -- Hannah Kim • 67-68-R3=135 (-7)
T2 -- Kacie Komoto • 69-69-R3=138 (-4)
T10 – Suchaya Tangkamolprasert • 75-67-R3=142 (E)
T10 – Sarah Cho • 69-73-R3=142 (E)
T17 – Stephanie Lau • 72-71-R3=143 (+1)
T45 – Janet Mao* • 75-77-R3=152 (+10)
* - Competing as an individual
Northwestern is ranked No. 7 in the nation in both the Golfweek and Golfstat rankings this week, the top-ranked team in a Hurricane Invitational field that features two other Top-20 teams (No. 16 Iowa State, No. 17 Purdue) and four more in the Top-40 (No. 30 Louisville, No. 34 East Carolina, No. 36 Purdue and No. 40 Miami), along with Baylor, FIU, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Florida, Texas State, Tulane and Virginia Tech.
Northwestern won last year's event by six strokes, finishing with a 7-over 859, the fourth-lowest tournament score in program history. The 'Cats were led by then-freshman Hannah Kim, who fired a 1-over 214 to share second-place, and senior Hana Lee, who tied for eighth at 3-over. Komoto, Tangkamolprasert and Kaitlin Park all finished inside the Top-21.
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – TEAM LEADERBOARD
2016 HURRICANE INVITATIONAL – INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
The two-time defending champion Wildcats are in search of a third straight title in south Florida this week at Biltmore Golf Course (Par 71; 6,080yds), a Donald Ross course. The course has proven hospitable to Northwestern, with the 'Cats turning in two of the six-lowest 54-hole team scores in program history in the last two visits.
Northwestern enters Wednesday's final round of play within striking distance of the 54-hole program record, an 849 carded this fall at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championships. Prior to Tuesday's record-setting performance, Monday's opening-round 277 tied the best single-round team score in program history.
"I was really proud of how we hung in there today," said head coach Emily Fletcher. "The group stayed patient throughout and then made some putts on the back nine."
Northwestern's five scoring golfers in the 5-count-4 format carded 14 birdies collectively on the back nine Tuesday.
Kim, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year, ended Monday's round in first place and never surrendered that perch on Tuesday. The sophomore turned in a blemish-free second round with three birdies and 15 pars, carding a 3-under 68 for a 7-under total and three-stroke lead after 36 holes. Her nine birdies rank second in the field through two days. Kim will tee off on Wednesday with a shot at the Wildcats 54-hole program record, a 206 by Stephanie Lau at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship.
Right on her teammate's heels, Kacie Komoto matched a first-round 69 with an identical second-round score to stand at 4-under through 36 holes. No player in the tournament has recorded more pars than the junior's 28 after two days of competition.
Perhaps nobody in the field displayed a second-round surge quite like Wildcats All American Suchaya Tangkamolprasert. The senior made her spring competition debut on Monday with an opening round 75. Through 11 holes on Tuesday she was 1-over, with a pair of birdies and a bogey, but the Bangkok native went on to birdie five of the final seven holes to record a 4-under 67 and leap 35 spots up the leaderboard for a share of tenth-place.
Sophomore Sarah Cho also sits in tenth at even par for the tournament, while freshman Stephanie Lau is in 17th after an even-par 71 on Tuesday and classmate Janet Mao is in 45th competing as an individual.
Northwestern will tee off the final round at 7:30 a.m. ET paired with second-place Iowa State (-1) and third-place Tulsa (+7).
Northwestern – 1/16 • 277-275-R3=552 (-16)
1 -- Hannah Kim • 67-68-R3=135 (-7)
T2 -- Kacie Komoto • 69-69-R3=138 (-4)
T10 – Suchaya Tangkamolprasert • 75-67-R3=142 (E)
T10 – Sarah Cho • 69-73-R3=142 (E)
T17 – Stephanie Lau • 72-71-R3=143 (+1)
T45 – Janet Mao* • 75-77-R3=152 (+10)
* - Competing as an individual
Northwestern is ranked No. 7 in the nation in both the Golfweek and Golfstat rankings this week, the top-ranked team in a Hurricane Invitational field that features two other Top-20 teams (No. 16 Iowa State, No. 17 Purdue) and four more in the Top-40 (No. 30 Louisville, No. 34 East Carolina, No. 36 Purdue and No. 40 Miami), along with Baylor, FIU, Michigan, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Florida, Texas State, Tulane and Virginia Tech.
Northwestern won last year's event by six strokes, finishing with a 7-over 859, the fourth-lowest tournament score in program history. The 'Cats were led by then-freshman Hannah Kim, who fired a 1-over 214 to share second-place, and senior Hana Lee, who tied for eighth at 3-over. Komoto, Tangkamolprasert and Kaitlin Park all finished inside the Top-21.