Sept. 27, 2005
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It should be quite the final round Wednesday at the 27th Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational being played at the University of New Mexico Championship Course (par 73, 6,069 yards) in Albuquerque. While first-round leader Ohio State came back to the pack in the second round, the 23rd-ranked Lobos shot the second-lowest round of the day – a 1-under 291 – to finish in a tie for fourth place with No. 14 UNLV at 4-over 588. The top five teams are separated by just two shots entering the third and final round.
Third-ranked Pepperdine had the low score on Tuesday – a 2-under 290 – and is tied with unranked Texas A&M atop the leaderboard at 2-over 586. No. 24 Ohio State, leading by six shots after the first round, is alone in third at 587 following an 8-over 300. Eighth-ranked Southern California fell off the pace somewhat by shooting 300 as well, but remains in the chase at 593, seven shots back.
New Mexico, gunning for its fourth McGuire title in the past five years, could have been leading the field had it not played the last five holes in four-over par. UNM took three straight tournament championships from 2001-03 before finishing second to Georgia last year.
As expected, the individual race is just as close as the team competition. Thirteen players are within four shots of the lead.
Texas A&M’s Ashley Knoll, UNLV’s Grace Woo and Pepperdine’s Carolina Llano share the lead at 5-under 141. Llano had the low round of the day at 4-under 69, recording six birdies. Woo shot a 3-under 33 on the back nine after going out in 38.
Unflappable Lobo freshman Mikaela Backstedt shot a 1-under 72 and is tied with fellow Swede Josefin Svenningsson from Baylor for fourth place at 4-under 142. Pepperdine’s Eileen Vargas, tied with Ohio State freshman Jennifer Cassidy for the first-round lead, is two shots out of the lead at 3-under 143. Cassidy had a 2-over 75 and is in a five-way logjam for seventh place at 2-over 144. Included in that group is UNM’s other freshman, Py Bengtsson. Playing as an individual, Bengtsson shot a 1-over 74 today.
New Mexico sophomore Alexandra Phelps had the Lobos’ low round of the day and the best round of her collegiate career, firing a 2-under 71. Phelps, who had five birdies but three bogeys, is tied for 14th place at even-par 146. Junior Ashley Rollins shot par-73 and is tied for 25th at 3-over 149. Lobo senior Christine Fernandez, who was 3-under through 13 holes, finished at 2-over 75. Uncharacteristically, Fernandez had triple bogeys at 14, 16 and 17 before at birdie 18. Sophomore Giselle Claux shot a 5-over 78 and is tied for 50th place at 8-over 154.
Wednesday’s final round starts with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. All results and live scoring are available at www.golfstat.com.