Chacon, Ducks Move Up On Day Two
PHOENIX – Led by a 2-under 70 from sophomore Briana Chacon, the Oregon women's golf team moved up four spots on the leaderboard with a 1-over 289 in the second round of the PING ASU Invitational on Saturday at Papago Golf Course.
After finishing Friday's opening round in 10th place in the 15-team field, the Ducks improved by five strokes and tied for the third-best mark of the day in the second round. Oregon enters Sunday's final round at 7-over-par, seven strokes back of tournament leader Arizona State.
How it Happened: Chacon was locked in from start to finish on Saturday, opening her round with a birdie at No. 10 and adding another at No. 14. The sophomore made 11 straight pars before a bogey at No. 8, the lone blemish on her scorecard that was immediately offset by a birdie on her final hole of the day.
Chacon moved up 22 spots on the individual leaderboard from Friday and goes into the final round in a tie for 12th overall at even-par. Kelly Sim of Northwestern leads the field at 5-under-par.
Freshman Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu – the No. 40 ranked player on the World Amateur Golf Rankings – was 1 over through her first nine holes before opening her back nine with back-to-back birdies. Lu was back at 1 over with two holes remaining, and she finished with a par and a birdie to end the day with an even-par 72.
Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen carded a 2-over 74 after leading Oregon with a 72 on Friday, going 1 under over her final 11 holes after starting the day with three bogeys through seven. Lu and Nielsen both enter the final round at 2 over for the weekend, in a tie for 22nd overall.
Tze-Han (Heather) Lin also enjoyed a strong day with a 1-over 73 while leading the Ducks with four total birdies on the day. Alexis Phadungmartvorakul – who is competing as an individual this weekend – finished with a 73 as well with three birdies. Lin and Phadungmartvorakul are tied for 30th individually at 3-over-par.
Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T6. Oregon – 294-289 – 583 (+7)
T12. Briana Chacon – 74-70 – 144 (E)
T22. Hsin-Yu (Cynthia) Lu – 74-72 – 146 (+2)
T22. Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen – 72-74 – 146 (+2)
T30. Tze-Han (Heather) Lin – 74-73 – 147 (+3)
T30. Alexis Phadungmartvorakul* – 74-73 – 147 (+3)
T75. Ching-Tzu Chen – 79-77 – 156 (+12)
* Competing as an individual
Notable: The Ducks have been the best team in the field so far on par-5s, shooting 11-under par … Nielsen has the second-best mark individually on par-5s at 5 under … Chacon, Nielsen and Phadungmartvorakul each have seven total birdies this weekend to tie for the team lead.
Up Next: Oregon will wrap the PING ASU Invitational with the final 18 holes on Sunday.