SOUTH BEND, Ind. – With the help of the fourth-lowest team round in program history, Purdue Women’s Golf built a 19-shot lead after the first day of the Fighting Irish Classic. Following a 286 (+2) in the first round, the Boilermakers fired a 277 (-7) in the afternoon to sit atop the leaderboard at 5-under heading into the final round.
Louisville (+14) is chasing Purdue, one shot ahead of Xavier (+15). North Florida (+19) and host Notre Dame (+20) round out the Top 5 after 36 holes at Warren Golf Course.
Purdue dominated the day, leading the field in birdies (33), par-3 scoring (+1), par-4 scoring (+4) and par-5 scoring (-6). Individually, all five Boilermakers cracked the Top 15.
Samantha Brown led the way for Purdue, tied atop the individual leaderboard at 5-under herself. The junior carded a 1-under 70 in the morning before rattling off a 67 (-4) in the second round, her third round in the 60s this season and 10th of her career. Brown became just the 11th Boilermaker in program history to record double-digit rounds in the 60s. She made 11 birdies throughout the day, including seven in the second round.
Lauren Timpf (-2) is three shots back of her teammate, tied for third. She posted an even-par 71 and added a season-low 69 (-2) to complete the day in red figures. Timpf played the par 4s 3-under, ranking second in the field.
In ninth place is Ashley Kim at 1-over following rounds of 73 (+2) and 70 (-1). She began her second round with back-to-back birdies to help her secure an under-par round.
Sophomore Luana Valero squeezed into the Top 10 just one shot behind Kim, carding a 73 (+2) before shaving two strokes off during the afternoon and posting an even-par 71.
Olivia Hemmila (+3) is tied for 13th. The senior transfer found most of her success on the par 5s, playing the long holes 3-under to pace the field in par-5 scoring through the first two rounds.
The Boilermakers look to maintain their lead with 18 holes left to play. Sunday’s final round begins with an 8:30 a.m. ET shotgun start.
For updates throughout the remainder of the tournament, follow Purdue Women's Golf on Twitter @PurdueWGolf.
BOILERMAKERS
T-1. Samantha Brown: 70-67—137 (-5)
T-3. Lauren Timpf: 71-69—140 (-2)
9. Ashley Kim: 73-70—143 (+1)
T-10. Luana Valero: 73-71—144 (+2)
T-13. Olivia Hemmila: 72-73—145 (+3)
*T-52. Michaela Headlee: 77-78—155 (+13)
*Competing as an individual
TEAM LEADERBOARD
- Purdue: 286-277—563 (-5)
2. Louisville: 291-291—582 (+14)
3. Xavier: 293-290—583 (+15)
4. North Florida: 296-291—587 (+19)
5. Notre Dame: 302-286—588 (+20)
6. Wisconsin: 296-295—591 (+23)
7. Ball State: 294-298—592 (+24)
8. Furman: 295-298—593 (+25)
9. Florida Gulf Coast: 295-300—595 (+27)
10. High Point: 306-298—604 (+36)
11. Toledo: 312-304—616 (+48)
12. Youngstown State: 311-308—619 (+51)
13. Morehead State: 313-316—619 (+61)
14. Stonehill: 323-322—645 (+77)