WILMINGTON, N.C. – LSU’s Megan McChrystal birdied four holes out of five late in her round to post a one-under par 71 to stand at one-under for the tournament and in 10th place at the halfway point of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship Wednesday at the Country Club of Landfall Pete Dye course.
McChrystal’s round had its moments but she was able to finish the play in the failing light of the afternoon in a round that was halted twice early by rain and lightning in the area and finally called at 6:27 CDT. Six teams were still on the course, including the Tulane Green Wave, and will come back and finish their rounds at 6:30 a.m. EDT.
McChrystal’s worse moment came early in the midst of two delays that totaled just under two hours. On the par 5 12th, her third hole of the day, she hit her second shot off a branch and it kicked out of bounds. The horn sounded after the shot for the first delay and it wasn’t until she returned to the course that she was able to find her ball. She would end up with a double bogey seven.
But after the next delay, following a par on her fourth hole, the 13, things began to change. There was a birdie on 14 (her fifth hole) and 17 that allowed her to turn in even par.
After a couple of three putt bogeys on the front side, McChrystal knew it was time to get going.
“I wasn’t staying at two over,” she said after the round. “I started hitting my irons really good and turned the afterburners on.”
That results in birdies on the two par fives she birdied the first day, No. 4 and No. 6, and she put birdies on the card at seven and eight (her 16th and 17th holes of the long day) to finish at one-under 71.
McChrystal moved up 10 places in the standings to a tie for 10th and is six shots out of the lead of Jennifer Johnson of Arizona State who fired a two-under 70 and is at 137 for 36 holes. Jennifer Song of team-leading Southern California is one-shot back after a 71 at 138, six-under par.
“I just need to come out and have another solid round on Thursday,” McChrystal said. “It would really be great to get a top 10 at nationals. Solid play is the key.”
LSU Coach Karen Bahnsen enjoyed watching the way McChrystal fought back and played coming home.
“She just started sticking all her irons,” she said. “Then she was making putts. It was really a lot of fun to watch. It was tough for her to get in a rhythm early in the round with the delays. But she came out of the second break and made birdie and really got things going. The greens are soft with the rain and you can go right at the pins. Megan is one of the best I’ve coached at distance control and she can hit it close in these conditions.”
One advantage for McChrystal is she doesn’t have to come out and finish the round and will not start her third round which is scheduled for one hour after the completion of the second round of play. The final six teams have anywhere from one to five holes to play.
Live scoring for the third round will be available at LSUsports.net through Golfstat.com. NCAA.com and Golfstat.com will have a live streaming telecast of the final three holes on the course both Thursday and Friday. The tentative start time on Thursday is 11 a.m. CDT but that may be moved back with the delay in the start of the third round.