Alabama
Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
Polly Mack Leads Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic After First Round
3/25/2022 6:02:00 PM | Women's Golf
The fifth year is in a three-way tie for first place after an opening-round 70
ATHENS, Ga. – Polly Mack turned in a 2-under-par 70 in the opening round of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic Friday, setting herself up for a three-way tie for first place after 18 holes. Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide carded an 11-over par 299 on the par-72, 6,327-yard University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga., and will enter the second round tied for fifth place.
Mack, who is tied with Michaela Morard of Southern California and Julia Lopez Ramirez of Mississippi State for the top spot, got her tournament off to a hot start with back-to-back birdies on her opening two holes. She continued to compete consistently throughout the rest of the round, carding four birdies and just two bogeys to finish at 2-under-par 70. The fifth year is one of just five individuals who finished the day under par.
Mack leads an individual field that includes seven of the nation's top 15 individual players, including No. 2 Amari Avery of USC, No. 3 Rachel Kuehn of Wake Forest, No. 7 Sara Kouskova of Texas, No. 9 Hannah Darling of South Carolina, No. 13 Benedetta Moresco of Alabama and No. 15 Carol Lopez-Chacarra of Wake Forest.
The Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic field features 15 teams, including eight teams ranked in the top 25 of the latest GolfStat rankings. No. 3 Wake Forest, No. 4 South Carolina, No. 11 Texas, No. 12 Alabama, No. 13 Southern California, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 17 Arkansas and No. 22 Ole Miss are joined by Southern, Houston, Georgia, Mercer, Mississippi State, Louisville and Charleston to complete the field.
Texas A&M and Wake Forest lead the field after the opening round at 5-over-par 293. Arkansas sits one stroke back of the leaders at 6-over-par 294, followed by Wake Forest in fourth place at 7-over-par 295. Alabama and Southern California are tied for fifth place at 11-over-par 299, just five strokes back from the top three and just six strokes back from the leaders.
Benedetta Moresco and Isabella van der Biest recorded matching rounds of 3-over-par 75 and will enter Saturday's second round tied for 26th place. B. Moresco carded three birdies throughout the round, second only to Mack in UA's lineup, shooting two over on the front nine and one over on the back nine. van der Biest closed out the day strong after a three-over front nine, rallying to shoot even par on the back half of the course.
Angelica Moresco and Sarah Edwards also posted matching opening rounds, both carding 7-over-par 79s. Edwards shot one over on the front nine before finding adversity on the back half of the course, shooting six over on the final nine holes. A. Moresco rallied after a six over on her opening nine holes to close out the day one over on the back nine. Both currently sit in a tie for 55th place on the individual leaderboard.
Alabama is set to tee off Saturday at 11:32 CT and will be paired with Georgia Southern. Live scoring throughout all three days of the tournament can be found here.
From Head Coach Mic Potter
"The first six to nine holes were pretty calm for us today and we weren't quite able to take advantage of the conditions the way that we should have. We hung in there on the back to salvage the round as the winds began to pick up, and I was happy to see that. Polly (Mack) had a great round shooting two under, while Isabella (van der Biest) shot three over after struggling early in the day. The forecast is for high winds tomorrow, so I am looking forward to seeing how patient we can stay throughout the afternoon. The team championship will be decided by patience and the ability to handle adversity."
Results
- T1 Polly Mack 2-under par 70
- T26 Benedetta Moresco 3-over par 75
- T26 Isabella van der Biest 3-over par 75
- T55 Angelica Moresco 7-over par 79
- T55 Sarah Edwards 7-over par 79
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Players Mentioned
