Auburn climbs Mason Rudolph leaderboard in round 2

Sept. 20, 2014

Sophia Schubert shot 71 (-1) Saturday to move into the top 20. (Wade Rackley photo)

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - Auburn made up significant ground in Saturday's second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship, moving into fifth place after 36 holes at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

The Tigers shot a 4-over-par 292 on Saturday, moving up three spots in the standings. Auburn stands at 14-over after two rounds, one shot ahead of Chattanooga and four shots back of GRU-Augusta.

Freshman Sophia Schubert and sophomore Clara Baena were key for the Tigers' effort Saturday as both posted rounds of 1-under-par 71.

"We got off to a little bit of a slow start again," Auburn head coach Kim Evans said. "But after we made the turn, we played some really strong golf and came in with a better score today. Sophia and Clara really turned it around and stayed strong. Saw some really good things on the back side. We're gonna go at it again tomorrow and see if we can keep climbing the ladder."

Baena moved into the top 10 with her fourth round of par or better this season. She made the turn at 1-over after an opening bogey, then dropped to 2-over after another bogey at the 10th. But she caught fire midway through the back nine, making birdies at 12, 14 and 15 to move to red figures for the day. After finishing with three straight pars, she heads into the final round tied for seventh place at even par for the week.

Schubert had the Tigers' most consistent round once again, making the turn at even par after a bogey at the fifth and birdie at the sixth. From there, she would par 11 of the final 12 holes, moving under par for the day with a birdie at the 12th. Schubert enters the final round tied for 17th.

Freshman Kelli Murphy turned in another strong effort with a 74 (+2). After playing her first 13 holes at 4-over, she rebounded with birdies at the 14th and 16th to finish the day a stroke better than her first round. Alex Harrell turned in a 4-over 76, and Jamie Yun shot 78 (+6).

Vanderbilt shot 283 (-5) Saturday to move into the 36-hole lead on their home course. At 5-under for the week, the Commodores carry a six-shot lead over LSU (+1) into the final round. Mississippi State (+8) is third.

Individually, LSU's Madelene Sagstrom and Vanderbilt's Jenny Hahn are tied for the lead at 4-under.

Auburn will begin its final round at 8:20 a.m. Sunday on the first tee, paired with GRU-Augusta and Chattanooga. Live scoring is available at BirdieFire.com.

*Competing as an individual