April 13, 2013
PING/ASU Invitational Round 2 Results
TEMPE, Ariz.- Stanford has moved into a tie for third place through two rounds of the PING/ASU Invitational at the Karsten Golf Course, notching a five-under-par 571 (289-282).
The Cardinal, which entered Saturday's round in ninth place, sits in a tie with USC. Duke leads the field at 563 (280-283), currently 13 shots under par. Alabama is five strokes behind in second place at 568 (284-284).
Three Stanford players are within six shots of the leader, paced by freshman Mariah Stackhouse at 138. The Cardinal rookie is tied for third at six-under-par overall, following up yesterday's 70 with a round of 68 on Saturday.
"I felt like I played decently Friday, but failed to capitalize on a lot of birdie opportunities," Stackhouse said. "My goal today was to be more aggressive with my putts and make more birdies. Today I learned that I'll have to carefully factor in the wind on the last few holes of the back nine to make sure my approach shots are within birdie range."
Lauren Kim also improved her score by two strokes in the second round, carding a 70 to go along with yesterday's 72. She fired four birdies in the front nine to go four under. Then the freshman made a late birdie on the 15th hole and followed with a double bogey on the 16th which pushed her back three strokes to finish two under.
"I was having a blast out there today, but 16 was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Kim who tied for 12th at 142. "It was the only bad swing I made all day and it happened to come on a hole that requires a solid tee shot. After re-teeing the ball and taking two shots to get out of the bunker, I had a 12-footer that I just saw going in the hole--and it did."
"I am really proud of how I played my other 17 holes and tomorrow I am just going to play with the same mentality I played with today--fighting for every shot and playing with confidence and determination," added Kim. "It will definitely take a low round to move up the leaderboard but today gave me the confidence I need to play well tomorrow. This round as a whole emphasized that on this course low numbers are definitely possible with patience and playing smart and consistent."
"We played very similar to yesterday except today we had a bunch more putts drop for us, especially early with Mariah and Lauren recording birdies on the first two holes," said Anne Walker, Stanford's Margot and Mitch Milias Director of Women's Golf. "Lauren and Mariah are both very mature freshmen and they play with an ease that allows them to score well. They have very even keel personalities."
Senior Sally Watson, playing her first event since winning the Sonoma State Spring Invitational earlier this week, is tied for 16th at 143 (72-71).
Junior Danielle Frasier tallied her second straight round of 75, and stands in a tie for 51st at 150. Sophomore Mariko Tumangan is tied for 69th at 154 (81-73).
The Cardinal tees off with Arizona and Arizona State on the first hole at 8:10 a.m.
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