Duke Snatches Lead Away

Two-time defending champions card -1 in round two to take over leaderboard

May 23, 2007

By Ryan Powell

Special to CSTV.com

Daytona Beach, Fla. - As round two came to a close at the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship on Wednesday, it appeared like top-ranked Duke was toying with the four teams that were ahead of them in the team standings entering the day.

The two-time defending champions cast a slight glimmer of hope that they could possibly be unseated following an opening-round 300 (+12) - just the seventh time the team reached the 300's this season.

However, the steely-nerved Blue Devils quickly brought the other 23 teams in the championship field back to reality after taming the high wind gusts in round two to card a 287 (-1) on Wednesday at the LPGA International Legends Course.

Senior Anna Grzebien led the surge up the leaderboard that saw Duke, who was one of the first teams on the course this morning, post the first under-par team score of the championship and build a seven-stroke advantage after 36 holes. The Narragansett, R.I. native shot a 70 (-2) in her second round, which was a 10-stroke improvement after not factoring into the Blue Devils' team score on Tuesday following one of her worst rounds as a collegian.

It marked just the third time in her All-American career at Duke that Grzebien posted a score in competition that started with the No. 8. The only time she went higher than her first-round 80 (+8) was during her sophomore year when she shot an 82 in the second round of the Sun Trust Invitational.

"Yesterday fired me up," said Grzebien, who made four of five round-two birdies on her opening nine. "This is the tournament where you need to come and play because everyone is prepared to win it. I gave myself a bunch of birdie opportunities inside of 12 feet today. I made a few, but I left a lot out there. It just felt good to be steady. I had a big number on a hole or two yesterday, so I just told myself to buckle down."

When all 24 teams had concluded play, the Blue Devils were still the only team that posted a score under par as the swirling winds that infiltrated the Florida coast on Tuesday afternoon intensified throughout the day on Wednesday.

"Well, you just get a little bit smarter," Duke coach Dan Brooks said about dealing with the high-wind gusts. "One thing you have to do out here is not over-estimate the gusts. You have to know what the prevailing wind is and have faith that that is going to be the dominate effect on the ball and not get too hung up on the little gusts we are feeling."

Grzebien was not the lone Blue Devil to play well in the tough conditions as freshman Alison Whitaker and sophomore Jennie Lee each posted a 72 (E) on the 6,371-yard layout. Whitaker made three birdies in her round and all of those putts were holed from outside of 25 feet.

"I was very impressed by their patience today," Brooks added. "We had some hiccups yesterday. We got bit by some big numbers and maybe we were a little more affected by those numbers than we needed to be. Today, it seemed like we had less of those from what I can tell and I think that they were mentally a little bit stronger today and probably less affected by the mishaps."

The fourth Blue Devil to count towards their second-round total was sophomore Amanda Blumenherst - the top-ranked player in women's collegiate golf. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native posted a 73 (+1) in her second round but remained in contention for medalist honors as she was among a quartet of golfers tied for second with a two-day total of 143 (-1).

First-round team leader USC went in the opposite direction as the seventh-ranked Trojans fell down the leaderboard into fifth after a second-round score of 306 (+18). The total was 11 strokes higher than the squad's 295 on Tuesday that put USC on top of the field for a day.

The team closest to the Blue Devils entering the third round will be sixth-ranked UCLA after the Bruins posted a 291 (+3), which was a 12-stroke improvement from their opening round. UCLA was led by a pair of golfers who broke par despite the intense winds. Tiffany Joh was one of five golfers to card a 70 (-2) in round two, while Ryann O'Toole was also in red figures for the Bruins, posting a 71 (-1).

Purdue moved up to third and are 10 shots off the pace in the team standings at 597 (+21). The Boilermakers made the move behind the strong play of Christel Boeljon as she led the team to a second-round total of 294 (+6). The Purdue sophomore grabbed the individual lead at 141 (-3) after making five birdies, including a stretch of three-consecutive that began with a tap-in on No. 6.

"I played solid today," Boeljon said. "I hit a lot of fairways and found a lot of greens. I think I only missed two greens. I felt comfortable about my game and just went shot-by shot."

Stanford remained in fourth as the Cardinal followed up its opening-round 299 with a team score of 300 in round two. Senior Lauren Todd, who was one shot off the lead after round one, dropped into a tie for sixth and is three shots behind Boeljon with a total of 144 (E).

Arkansas' Stacey Jones, one of six individuals competing in the field, took sole possession of second place after finishing the Legends Course at 71 (-1) for the second straight day. She birdie No. 18 to give her a two-day total of 142 (-2).

Blumenherst and Joh are joined in third place by TCU's Catherine Matranga, who fired a 71 (-1) to pace the Horned Frogs. Matranga leads all golfers in the field with 10 birdies and a four-under total on par three's this week.