March 22, 2008

ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina women’s golf dropped two spots into 15th place through the first two rounds of the Liz Murphey Classic at University of Georgia Golf Course. The Gamecocks entered the day in a tie for 13th but battled the course throughout Saturday to score 319 and fall two shots behind Florida State. Senior Blythe Worley came out of Saturday’s round as the best-placed Gamecock in 50th position heading into Sunday’s final round.

After opening the tournament with an 80 on Friday, Worley carded 78 (+6) today. Starting on the 10th tee, she bogeyed four of her first five holes before steadying the round with four pars and a birdie on the par-4 first hole. She added another birdie on the par-5 seventh.

Sophomore Bénédicte Toumpsin recovered from a first-round 82 to also post 78 on Saturday. She did not manage a birdie on her scorecard, but minimized the bogeys that upset her Friday round to sit in 63rd place. Senior Whitney Simons followed Friday’s 80 with an 81 (+9) on Saturday to hold a share of 68th place.

Senior Camila Mori was the Gamecocks’ round one leader with a 75 (+3), but saw her score balloon to 86 (+14) on Saturday. After carding three birdies in her first round, Mori struggled with seven bogeys and one double bogey while taking a seven on the par-3 13th hole to drop to 68th place. Like Simons, Taylor Barrett added one stroke to her first-round score, turning in an 82 (+10) on Saturday after Friday’s 81 and sits in 78th place. She was solid in her first nine and made the turn at +2, but put up just two pars in the final nine holes.

Playing as an individual, junior Meredith Taylor made South Carolina’s biggest move the day. Rebounding from Friday’s bogey-laden 82, she moved up to 50th place with a 76 (+4) on Saturday. Taylor battled back from a bogey on her first hole, the 10th, and birdied the par-5 17th to make the run at +1. A birdie on the par-4 sixth hole helped offset a pair of bogeys and a double over her final nine and helped her to a career-best round of 76.

Host Georgia surged into the tournament lead with a 300 on Saturday, demoting first-round leader LSU, which stumbled all the way down to sixth heading into Sunday’s final round. Purdue and Alabama are three and seven strokes, respectively, off the tournament lead. Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst and Purdue’s Maude-Aimee Leblanc are tied for the tournament lead, sitting at 146 (+2) with one round left to play.