Harris Takes NCAA Lead With 2-Under 70

HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. — LSU senior Katy Harris posted a second consecutive 2-under par round of 70 to move to the lead with just one round to go in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship at the El Campeon Course at the Mission Inn Resort.

Harris, who has finished second six times in her LSU career (twice in playoffs) will get one final chance at a collegiate title in her final event and amazingly the most important tournament of the college year.

Harris got her round underway early, getting a birdie on the front nine and keeping it under par the rest of the way. Those in front of her began to falter and she moved to the lead late in the afternoon. Harris is at 4-under 212 after 54-holes of the 72-hole event after consistent rounds of 72-70-70.

She is one shot ahead of 36-hole leader Laura Moffat of UCLA who followed rounds of 69-69 with a 3-over 75 to stand at 3-under 213 after 54 holes. Jimin Kang of Arizona State and Celeste Troche of Auburn are tied for fourth at 2-under, with Urusla Tuutti of New Mexico State in fifth at 1-under.

“It’s a who’s who of college golf at the top of the leader board and Katy certainly deserves to be in that group,” said LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen. “She has been playing fabulous golf all year and she has certainly put it all together this week. Now she just has one round left in her career and we are all pulling for her to make it good one.”

The news wasn’t all bad for the Tigers as a team either as things finally went the nation’s 10th-ranked team as LSU posted its best round of the event, a 10-over 298 to move from 13th place to a tie for 11th. LSU stands at 41-over par 905, tied with Pepperdine for the position. LSU is just four shots out of 10th as LSU looks for its sixth consecutive top 10 finish in as many appearances dating back to 1986.

Duke continues to lead at 18-over par 882, four shots better than Georgia at 22-over and six shots better than Auburn and Texas entering Friday’s final 18 holes.

“We have been so close all week to really putting a good round together,” said Bahnsen. “We were able to get things heading in the right direction Thursday and we’ve got a good chance to get back in the top 10 again.”

Besides Harris’ 70, LSU counted a 75 from freshman Isabel Dornellas, a 76 from Lesley McClurg and a 77 from Meredith Duncan. Dornellas and Duncan are tied for 54th in the individual competition.

The final round is set for Friday and the All-American teams, which Harris is now expected to be prominently featured on, will be announced Friday evening at the National Golf Coaches Association banquet.

Should Harris win the NCAA title, it would be the first by a female in LSU history. Former Lady Tiger Kristi Coats recorded the best finish in school history when she placed third in 1991 as an individual qualifier.

	Individual	School	1	2	3	Total	Par
1	Katy Harris	LSU	72	70	70	212	-4
2	Laura Moffat	UCLA	69	69	75	213	-3
T3	Jimin Kang	Arizona State U.	74	70	70	214	-2
T3	Celeste Troche	Auburn University	72	68	74	214	-2
5	Ursula Tuutti	New Mexico State U.	72	73	70	215	-1
T6	Candy Hannemann	Duke University	75	72	69	216	E
T6	Lorena Ochoa	Arizona, U. of	73	71	72	216	E
T6	Lindsey Wright	Pepperdine Univ.	70	72	74	216	E
9	Candie Kung	Southern California	72	74	71	217	+1
T10	Maria Boden	Oklahoma State Univ.	70	74	74	218	+2
T10	Janice Olivencia	Texas, Univ. of	73	74	71	218	+2
T12	Virada Nirapathpongporn	Duke University	72	73	74	219	+3
T12	Young-A Yang *	Tennessee, U. of	75	73	71	219	+3
T14	Kristin Dufour	Texas, Univ. of	76	74	70	220	+4
T14	Claudia Ferrini	New Mexico, U. of	76	70	74	220	+4
T14	Katherine Hull	Pepperdine Univ.	72	77	71	220	+4
T14	Reilley Rankin	Georgia, U. of	72	78	70	220	+4
T18	Laura Henderson	Georgia, U. of	75	72	74	221	+5
T18	Angela Jerman	Georgia, U. of	77	71	73	221	+5
T18	Kim Rowton	Stanford University	73	74	74	221	+5

LSU Hole-by-Hole Results

Katy Harris

hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	in	total
par	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	35	5	4	3	4	5	3	4	5	4	37	72
score	5	3	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	34	5	4	3	4	4	2	4	5	5	36	70

Meredith Duncan

par	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	35	5	4	3	4	5	3	4	5	4	37	72
score	5	4	4	5	5	5	4	3	4	39	5	4	3	5	5	3	4	5	4	38	77

Lesley McClurg

par	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	35	5	4	3	4	5	3	4	5	4	37	72
score	5	3	4	3	4	4	5	3	5	36	5	5	4	5	6	3	4	5	3	40	76

Lindy Hitdlebaugh

par	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	35	5	4	3	4	5	3	4	5	4	37	72
score	5	3	6	5	5	4	5	3	4	40	5	4	3	5	5	4	5	6	4	41	81

Isabel Dornellas

par	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	35	5	4	3	4	5	3	4	5	4	37	72
score	5	3	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	36	6	4	3	4	6	3	4	5	4	39	75

Team Results

	Team	1	2	3	Total	Par
1	Duke University	299	293	290	882	+18
2	Georgia, U. of	298	295	293	886	+22
T3	Auburn University	300	294	294	888	+24
T3	Texas, Univ. of	298	299	291	888	+24
5	Oklahoma State Univ.	293	299	300	892	+28
6	UCLA	295	299	299	893	+29
7	Southern California	296	307	293	896	+32
T8	Arizona, U. of	302	301	296	899	+35
T8	Tulsa, U. of	307	291	301	899	+35
10	Stanford University	298	303	300	901	+37
T11	LSU	304	303	298	905	+41
T11	Pepperdine Univ.	299	306	300	905	+41
13	New Mexico State U.	301	298	307	906	+42
14	Kent State	304	309	298	911	+47
T15	Arizona State U.	305	309	300	914	+50
T15	Michigan State U.	310	300	304	914	+50
17	California, U. of	302	308	312	922	+58
18	Purdue University	305	309	309	923	+59
19	San Jose State Univ	303	312	309	924	+60
20	Washington, U. of	315	305	308	928	+64
21	New Mexico, U. of	318	307	308	933	+69
22	So. Florida, U. of	314	314	309	937	+73
23	Ohio State Univ.	313	312	316	941	+77
24	South Carolina, U of	308	323	311	942	+78