May 22, 2008
Albuquerque, N.M. - The No. 10 Auburn women's golf team fared better during the shotgun format that was round three at the NCAA Championship at the University of New Mexico Championship Course. The Tigers fired 21-over 309 (289-315-309--913). Play was halted during the third round due to nightfall.
The 21 players that did not finish third round play will resume play at 7 a.m. MT. Round four will begin approximately at 8 a.m. MT. Arizona State's Azahara Munoz has the individual lead at 2-under 70 after completing her third round.
Southern California and UCLA both shot 8-over during the third round. The two teams have an eight-shot overall advantage over Denver, Arkansas and Arizona State, who are at 28-over.
Munoz shot a 1-over 73 on Thursday and carries a one-stroke lead over UCLA's Tiffany Joh and Southern California's Belen Mozo. Joh was even during the third round and has a tournament total of 215. Mozo had a 3-over 76 Thursday. Georgia's Garrett Phillips is fourth at even-par 216.
Auburn newcomers led the way on day three as freshman Sarah Thead shot a team best 3-over 75, while classmate Cydney Clanton was one stroke behind at 5-over 77.
Thead started the day off on eight and shot even par through 13, before a bogey on 14. She went even over the next six holes, but bogeyed three and four. Thead went even the rest of the way to finish at 3-over 75.
Clanton began on six and fired back-to-back bogeys before pulling back to even par with birdies on 10 and 13. She went to 1-over with a bogey on 17 and back to even with a birdie on 18. Clanton doubled on one and fired three straight bogeys to finish at 5-over.
Senior Margaret Shirley fired 6-over 78. Shirley started on eight and had five bogeys and two birdies on the back nine and found herself 4-over with seven holes remaining. She moved to 5-over after a bogey on two, but pulled to 4-over with a birdie on three. Bogeys on four and seven left her at 6-over for the day.
Sophomore Candace Schepperle finished at 7-over 79. Schepperle started the day on seven. She bogeyed on eight, doubled on 12 and sunk two more bogeys on the back nine to finish at 5-over. Bogeys on two and four left her at 7-over for the day.
Junior Mariana Macias shot 8-over 80. Macias began on nine and two bogeys, a double and one birdie to finish the back nine at 3-over. Three bogeys on the front four holes put her at 6-over and a double on eight left her at 8-over for the evening.
Auburn will conclude the NCAA Championship Friday when it tees off of one at 12:30 p.m. MT with Purdue and Wake Forest. Live stats can be found at www.golfstat.com and live streaming from 10, 17 and 18 can be found on www.ncaasports.com.