Oct. 9, 2010

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Freshman Suzie Lee posted her second straight round of even-par 72, but South Carolina faltered in the second round of the Tar Heel Invitational on Saturday. The Gamecocks shot a 9-over-par 297 to drop to 13th place after 36 holes at the UNC Finley Golf Course.

Lee remains at even par for the tournament after back-to-back rounds of 72, moving her up to a tie for 24th place. Despite starting with a bogey at the first hole, Lee made the turn at 1-under after birdies at Nos. 7 and 8. A tough stretch on the back nine – three bogeys in four holes – dropped her to 2-over, but she climbed her way back into red figures with birdies at 14, 16 and 17. A bogey at the closing hole kept her from breaking par for the first time as a collegian.

Junior Katie Burnett posted her second straight round of 74 (+2). She started with a double-bogey on the first hole, but fought her way back with a pair of birdies on holes 4 and 9 around a bogey at No. 8. After four straight pars to open the back nine, a bogey-birdie stretch on 14 and 15 kept her at 1-over before a bogey at the 18th. Burnett is tied for 50th place through two rounds.

Freshman Katie Rose Higgins got off to a blistering start for the second straight day, making the turn at 3-under after birdies at Nos. 2, 4 and 8. But the back nine was a struggle as she carded bogeys at 11, 14, 16 and 18 along with a double-bogey at the 15th to finish with a 75 (+3) and drop to a tie for 42nd place.

Samantha Swinehart and Amanda Strang both posted rounds of 76 (+4) on Saturday. Swinehart struggled in the early-going with four bogeys on the front nine, but fought her way back to within a stroke of par with three consecutive birdies on 11, 12 and 13. However, a double-bogey at 14 and a bogey at 15 erased a good amount of the work she did, but she got a shot back at the 16th with a birdie. A bogey at No. 17 gave her an even-par back nine and a 4-over round. Strang had four birdies on the front nine along with a pair of bogeys and a double-bogey to make the turn at even par. A bogey at the 11th dropped her to 1-over, and a tough finish with three bogeys in her last four holes left her with a 4-over-par day.

Alabama had another stellar day, posting a 14-under-par 274 to extend its lead to 15 shots at 551 (-25). Duke is in second place at 566 (-10), and LSU at 570 (-6) is third as the only other team under par. The Crimson Tide also top the individual leaderboard with Brooke Pancake (-10) and Camilla Lennarth (-8) are first and second, followed by Brittany Altomare of Virginia at 7-under.

The Gamecocks will begin their final round at 9:15 a.m. Sunday with a shotgun start, paired with Florida and Florida State on holes 12 through 15. Live scoring is available through golfstatresults.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T22. Suzie Lee – 72-72=144 (E)
T42. Katie Rose Higgins – 72-75=147 (+3)
T50. Katie Burnett – 74-74=148 (+4)
T57. Samantha Swinehart – 73-76=149 (+5)
T61. Amanda Strang – 74-76=150 (+6)