Wake Forest University
NCAA Championship
Kupcho Co-Leader After NCAA Third Round
5/20/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWGolf)
STILLWATER, Okla. – Wake Forest junior Jennifer Kupcho continues to lead the individual field at the NCAA Championship following Sunday's third round at Karsten Creek Golf Course. Kupcho carded a 2-under 70 to finish the day at 7-under and in a tie for the lead heading into Monday's final round.
On the team leaderboard, Wake Forest tied with Auburn, Arizona State and Louisville for 15th place at 39-over after 54 holes following an 8-over third round. The top 15 teams made the cut to play the final round of stroke play, but Louisville won the tiebreaker to claim the final spot. Kupcho will compete on Monday as one of the top nine individuals on teams that did not advance.
Kupcho, who tied the Karsten Creek scoring record with a first-round 65 on Friday before posting a second-round 74, had four birdies and two bogeys during her third-round 70. She is tied with Cheyenne Knight of Alabama for the lead, one shot ahead of Jaclyn Lee of Ohio State and Bianca Pagdanganan of Arizona. Only nine players are under par heading into the final round.
"I think her approach shots and her driving was so much better today," said head coach Dianne Dailey. "Yesterday, she was struggling a little bit with the rough so I think today she was in the fairway a lot more. It gave herself a chance to make a lot of approaches and got some birdies early. I think her ball striking was really on today."
Kupcho is looking to complete her third straight strong performance at the NCAA Championship. She finished T-6th as a freshman in 2016 before sharing runner-up honors as a sophomore last season.
"I think she has a really good chance of winning," said Dailey. "When she gets her game face on, she's focused and really goes after it. She's so capable, I think she has an excellent chance. I think she's thinking about last year and she wants to make up for that."
The low round of the day for the Demon Deacons was recorded by Emilia Migliaccio, who shot a 3-under round of 69. She is T-35th at 6-over for the tournament, just missing the individual cut to join Kupcho as an individual competing in the final round.
Siyun Liu shot a third-round 75 and Monica Schumacher had a third-round 80 to complete the scoring four for Wake Forest.
The individual championship will be determined during Monday's final round of stroke play. Kupcho will tee off at 2:40 p.m. ET. Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the round beginning at 4 p.m. ET.
Players Mentioned
