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AUBURN, Wash. — LSU senior Meredith Duncan conquered the back-nine Thursday with two birdies in the third round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships at the University of Washington Golf Course.
Duncan’s 34 on the final nine holes, wiped out a bogey on the third hole and gave the Shreveport golfer a 1-under score of 71 for the third round, her best of the tournament, moving her up 12 places from 29th to a tie for 17th in the individual competition.
The defending United States Women’s Amateur Champion has rounds of 73-75-71 for the first 54 holes of the 72 hole tournament, which concludes on Friday. She has a three-day total of 3-over 219 and her round on Thursday still keeps alive a shot at a top 10 finish. Presently, even par 216 is 10th with a round to play.
“I was just kind of steady,” Duncan said of the round. “(Wednesday) I just couldn’t make any putts or birdies. I still missed some putts I should have made, but I’m happy with the round and I’ll just keep doing the things I need to do on Friday. I definitely want to go out aggressive in the final round. I need to start off better than I have been. I just need to come off number one and make some birdies.”
Duke’s Virada Nirapathpongporn continues to dominate the individual competition with a 9-under score of 207 for 54 holes (68-69-70). She is three strokes ahead of Georgia’s Summer Sirmons at 6-under 210.
The team competition is much up for grabs as Arizona’s nine-stroke first-round lead is now down to two entering Friday’s final round. Arizona is at 10-over 874, while Texas, shooting under par for the day, has crept back to 12-over 876. Duke is one more shot back at 877, while the SEC is represented by Auburn in fourth at 19-over par and Florida and defending national champion, Georgia, at 20-over par.