May 25, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio -
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The Purdue women's golf team got good news and bad news after the third round of the 2006 NCAA Women's Golf National Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
The seventh-ranked Boilermakers moved up into a tie for fourth place with Arizona State, but remain 20 strokes behind top-ranked Duke for the lead with one round remaining.
Purdue fired a third-round 300, five strokes over their second-round total. The Boilermakers' total of 896 is merely seven strokes out of second place. Duke fired the lowest round of the event on Thursday with a 287. Southern California is in second place (889) and Pepperdine is third (894).
Freshman Maria Hernandez continued her improvement throughout the tournament and fired a one-under 71 on Thursday. She began the event with a 76 and carded a 72 on Wednesday. Her third round included four birdies and three bogeys. She is tied for seventh overall.
Big Ten Golfer of the Year Onnarin Sattayabanphot struggled to a five-over 77. She was never able to overcome a triple bogey on the second hole. She is tied for 17th overall. She has totaled 219 strokes over the three rounds.
Big Ten Freshman of the Year Christel Boeljon is tied for 24th overall. Boeljon fired a one-over 73 on Thursday. Boeljon had a rough start, but was able to birdie holes 14 to16 on the way in to get back to one over. Boeljon has totaled 224 strokes.
Junior Myrte Eikenaar is tied for 77th. She fired a 79 on Thursday and has totaled 233 strokes. Sophomore Whitney Frykman posted an 83 and is tied for 102nd place.
The championships are being held on Ohio State's Scarlet Course, which was recently given a complete makeover.
Weather was again favorable for the third-consecutive day with cool morning temperatures with an afternoon high in the 80s. Skies were clear throughout the day with bright sunshine and light winds. The winds picked up the final hour of play as storms approached from the west. Play was not affected by the late afternoon weather.
The Boilermakers enter the final round 20 strokes behind No. 1 Duke. Purdue is looking for its first national championship in women's golf. Purdue has won its last two tournaments and a school-record six events during the 2005-06 season. After winning the Big Ten Championships on April 30, the Boilermakers won the 2006 NCAA West Regional Championships in Auburn, Washington, on May 13.
Purdue is one of five schools to advance to the 2006 NCAA Championships in the last seven straight seasons. The other four schools are Arizona State, Duke, Stanford and USC. It's best finish at the NCAA Championships was a ninth-place showing in 2000.
The Boilermakers tee off in the final round at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Live scoring of the 2006 NCAA Women's Golf Championships is available at www.golfstat.com.