Northwestern University Athletics
Lau Leads Three #B1GCats In Top-6 After 36 Holes In Coral Gables
2/28/2017 4:26:00 PM | Women's Golf
CORAL GABLES, Florida – Stephanie Lau will tee off Wednesday's final round of the Hurricane Invitational just one stroke off the lead, after carding her second-straight 1-under 71 at The Biltmore Golf Course (Par-72; 6,150 yards) on Tuesday. Bolstered by three student-athletes in the Top-6, the No. 16 Wildcats are in second place in search of their fourth straight title in Coral Gables.
2017 Hurricane Invitational – LIVE LEADERBOARD
"We made some more birdies today, which was encouraging," said head coach Emily Fletcher. "We still made some mistakes that we need to clean up tomorrow. The wind was tough again today so we did a lot well."
Lau, the 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, started hot with four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine. She capped off her round with a birdie on No. 18 to post a 1-under 71 for the second consecutive day.
"I was really proud of Steph for hanging in there today," said Fletcher. "She made a couple of tough up-and-downs from bunkers on No. 16 and No. 18."
Sophomore Janet Mao was one of the biggest movers on the leaderboard during Tuesday's second round, vaulting 20 spots into a tie for sixth after carding a 3-under 69, the lowest round of the day in the 86-player field. Among her five birdies, the Georgia native birdied three of The Biltmore's four Par-5 offerings, including No. 1 and No. 18.
Junior Hannah Kim will tee off Wednesday's third-and-final round in a tie for sixth with Mao, just two strokes off the lead, seeking her second straight Hurricane Invitational title.
Northwestern will tee off Round 3 at 7:30 a.m. ET, paired with Louisville and Miami.
Northwestern – 2/15 • 289-288-R3 = 577 (+1)
T4 – Stephanie LAU – 71-71-R3=142 (-2)
T6 – Hannah KIM – 69-74-R3=143 (-1)
T6 – Janet MAO – 74-69-R3=143 (-1)
T22 – Monica MATSUBARA [IND] – 73-75-R3=148 (+4)
T33 – Sarah CHO – 75-74-R3=149 (+5)
T43 – Kacie KOMOTO – 75-76-R3=151 (+7)
76 – Brooke Riley [IND] – 76-82-R3=158 (+14)
This year's Hurricane field includes seven teams currently ranked in the Golfstat Top-50, headlined by Northwestern and the hosts, No. 14 Miami. Augusta State, Barry, East Carolina, FIU, Iowa State, Louisville, Mercer, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Penn State, South Dakota State, USF and Virginia Tech round out the leaderboard.
Last spring, Kim, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, and the Wildcats broke every major scoring record in program history at The Biltmore.
Kim led nearly wire-to-wire in Coral Gables, sitting atop the leaderboard after the opening round and never surrendering the top spot over the final 36 holes of competition. She entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, and birdied four of her last six holes of the tournament to end the competition with a blistering 7-under 64, shaving two strokes off the program's previous 18-hole record. Her 199 total, five strokes ahead of anyone else in the field, is the only sub-200 tournament in Wildcats history.
Northwestern's team score of 828 was 21 shots ahead of second-place Iowa State, and 21 strokes better than the previous Wildcats 54-hole record, an 849 at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship. During three rounds of competition, the team carded the program's three-lowest single-round scores ever.
2017 Hurricane Invitational – LIVE LEADERBOARD
"We made some more birdies today, which was encouraging," said head coach Emily Fletcher. "We still made some mistakes that we need to clean up tomorrow. The wind was tough again today so we did a lot well."
Lau, the 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, started hot with four birdies in a six-hole stretch on the front nine. She capped off her round with a birdie on No. 18 to post a 1-under 71 for the second consecutive day.
"I was really proud of Steph for hanging in there today," said Fletcher. "She made a couple of tough up-and-downs from bunkers on No. 16 and No. 18."
Sophomore Janet Mao was one of the biggest movers on the leaderboard during Tuesday's second round, vaulting 20 spots into a tie for sixth after carding a 3-under 69, the lowest round of the day in the 86-player field. Among her five birdies, the Georgia native birdied three of The Biltmore's four Par-5 offerings, including No. 1 and No. 18.
Junior Hannah Kim will tee off Wednesday's third-and-final round in a tie for sixth with Mao, just two strokes off the lead, seeking her second straight Hurricane Invitational title.
Northwestern will tee off Round 3 at 7:30 a.m. ET, paired with Louisville and Miami.
Northwestern – 2/15 • 289-288-R3 = 577 (+1)
T4 – Stephanie LAU – 71-71-R3=142 (-2)
T6 – Hannah KIM – 69-74-R3=143 (-1)
T6 – Janet MAO – 74-69-R3=143 (-1)
T22 – Monica MATSUBARA [IND] – 73-75-R3=148 (+4)
T33 – Sarah CHO – 75-74-R3=149 (+5)
T43 – Kacie KOMOTO – 75-76-R3=151 (+7)
76 – Brooke Riley [IND] – 76-82-R3=158 (+14)
This year's Hurricane field includes seven teams currently ranked in the Golfstat Top-50, headlined by Northwestern and the hosts, No. 14 Miami. Augusta State, Barry, East Carolina, FIU, Iowa State, Louisville, Mercer, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Penn State, South Dakota State, USF and Virginia Tech round out the leaderboard.
Last spring, Kim, the two-time Big Ten Player of the Year, and the Wildcats broke every major scoring record in program history at The Biltmore.
Kim led nearly wire-to-wire in Coral Gables, sitting atop the leaderboard after the opening round and never surrendering the top spot over the final 36 holes of competition. She entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, and birdied four of her last six holes of the tournament to end the competition with a blistering 7-under 64, shaving two strokes off the program's previous 18-hole record. Her 199 total, five strokes ahead of anyone else in the field, is the only sub-200 tournament in Wildcats history.
Northwestern's team score of 828 was 21 shots ahead of second-place Iowa State, and 21 strokes better than the previous Wildcats 54-hole record, an 849 at the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship. During three rounds of competition, the team carded the program's three-lowest single-round scores ever.
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