Hailee Cooper (Texas A&M photo)
After a topsy-turvey first round, the waters calmed just a bit on the second day of the NCAA Division I Regionals, but it will be a restless night's sleep for a handful of teams that hope to keep their seasons alive with strong final rounds on Wednesday.
A sixth-seed (Michigan State) and an eighth-seed (North Carolina State) continue to lead the Palm Beach Gardens and Raleigh Regionals, while the surprise team of the tournament, Oregon State, a ninth-seed in the Westfield Regional, is currently running second to Mississippi State.
Stanford and Rose Zhang continue to take advantage of friendly scoring conditions in the Pacific Northwest where the Cardinal are 35-under at the Pullman Regional. Another top-seed, Texas A&M, is taking care of business at the San Antonio Regional.
Wake Forest, the top-ranked team in the nation as listed by Golfweek/Sagarin, righted its ship today in Raleigh where the Demon Deacons moved inside the cutline with a 3-under round at Lonnie Poole Golf Course.
LSU, the third-ranked team in the nation and top-seed at Palm Beach Gardens, find themselves five shots off the cutline heading into Wednesday's final round. Barring a lights-out final round, Oregon, last year's national runner-up is also in danger of seeing its season come to an end at the Westfield Regional.
Here's a second rounds breakdown from the six regional sites around the country.
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Day Two: 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Regionals
Athens Regional
University of Georgia Golf Course; Athens, Georgia
Fifth-seed Georgia continues to flex its muscle on its home course in Athens where the Bulldogs widened their lead to 10-strokes over South Carolina with a 6-under round of 282 on Tuesday. While the top three teams look solid, the fourth and fifth spots likely will be decided between Maryland, Augusta, Ohio State and Ole Miss, who are separated by just two shots heading into the final round.
The teams: 1. South Carolina; 2. San Jose State; 3. Ole Miss; 4. Ohio State; 5. Georgia; 6. Maryland; 7. Kent State (Mid-American Conference); 8. Charleston (Colonial Athletic Association); 9. Kansas; 10. Furman (Southern Conference); 11. Augusta (Southland Conference); 12. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference).
Five advancing teams as of today: 1. Georgia (-15); 2. South Carolina (-5); 3. San Jose State (+7); 4. Maryland (+13); t-5. Augusta (+15), Ohio State, Ole Miss.
On the outside looking in: t-8. Furman (+22); Kansas; 10. Kent State (+23).
Individual leader: Jenny Bae, Georgia (-8; 69-67-136).
Advancing individual as of today: Anna Morgan, Furman (-4).
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Palm Beach Gardens Regional
PGA National Resort Palm Beach; Gardens, Fla.
Northwestern made a strong move today with a 4-under round of 284 which took the third-seeded Wildcats from outside the cutline into second place behind Michigan State. It will be a restless night's sleep for top-seed and national championship hopeful LSU, which will go into Wednesday's final round tied for seventh and five shots off the current cutline.
The teams: 1. LSU; 2. Texas; 3. Northwestern; 4. UCF; 5. Duke; 6. Michigan State; 7. California; 8. Arkansas; 9. Alabama; 10. South Florida; 11. Penn (The Ivy League); 12. Quinnipiac (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
Five advancing teams as of today: 1. Michigan State (+5); 2. Northwestern (+8); 3. Duke (+12); t-4. South Florida (+13); Texas (+13).
On the outside looking in: 6. Central Florida (+15); t-7. Arkansas (+18); LSU (+18).
Individual leader: Sara Byrne, Miami (-4; 70-70-140)
Advancing individual as of today: Sara Byrne, Miami (-4; 70-70-140)
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Raleigh Regional
Lonnie Poole Golf Course; Raleigh, NC
Eighth-seed North Carolina State continues to take advantage of its familiar surroundings at Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh where the Wolfpack will take a two-shot lead into Wednesday's final round. Top-seed Wake Forest carded a 4-under round of 284 today which took the Demon Deacons inside the cutline at 1-over. Arizona and ninth-seeded Purdue are tied for fourth place at 2-over while Florida State (+3), TCU (+4) and Florida (+7) need strong rounds tomorrow if they are to keep their seasons alive.
The teams: 1. Wake Forest; 2. Arizona State; 3. Florida State; 4. Florida; 5. Arizona; 6. North Texas (Conference USA); 7. TCU; 8. NC State; 9. Purdue; 10. Nebraska; 11. Campbell (Big South Conference); 12. Richmond (Patriot League).
Five advancing teams as of today: 1. North Carolina State (-6); 2. Arizona State (-4); 3. Wake Forest (+1); t-4. Arizona (+2); Purdue (+2).
On the outside looking in: 6. Florida State (+3); 7. TCU (+4); 8. Florida (+8).
Individual leader: Dorota Zalewska; Chattanooga (-3; 69-66-135).
Advancing individual as of today: Dorota Zalewska; Chattanooga (-3; 69-66-135).
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San Antonio Regional
TPC San Antonio; San Antonio, Texas
The top five seeds are holding up in San Antonio Regional, where Texas A&M leads the way at 5-over. The Aggies were 11-under over their final five holes today to increase their lead to four shots over fifth-seed SMU. Auburn currently holds the fifth and final spot at +18 over, five shots clear of Denver at +23.
The Teams: 1. Texas A&M (Southeastern Conference); 2. Auburn; 3. Pepperdine; 4. Oklahoma State (Big 12 Conference); 5. SMU (American Athletic Conference); 6. UCLA; 7. New Mexico (Mountain West Conference); 8. Denver (The Summit League); 9. Illinois (Big Ten Conference); 10. Sam Houston (Western Athletic Conference); 11. ULM (Sun Belt Conference); 12. Missouri State (Missouri Valley Conference).
Five advancing teams as of today: 1. Texas A&M (+5); 2. SMU (+9); 3. Oklahoma State (+12); 4. Pepperdine (+15); 5. Auburn (+18).
On the outside looking in: 6. Denver (+23); 7. New Mexico (+24); 8. UCLA (+27).
Individual leader: Camryn Carreon, Texas-San Antonio (-1; 71-67-138).
Advancing individual as of today: Camryn Carreon, Texas-San Antonio (-1; 71-67-138).
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Westfield Regional
The Club at Chatham Hills; Westfield, Ind.
Behind Julia Lopez Ramirez (-11) and Hannah Levi (-10). top-seed Mississippi State has taken firm control of the Westfield Regional, where three of the top five seeds find themselves within the cutline. Ninth-seed Oregon State continues to be the surprise team of this regional, as the Beavers currently sit in in second place at 13-under. Vanderbilt (-7), Virginia (-5), Tulsa (-5), Iowa State (-2) and Xavier (-2) are separated by just five shots heading into the final round.
The teams: 1. Mississippi State; 2. Oregon; 3. Vanderbilt; 4. Iowa State; 5. Virginia; 6. Tulsa; 7. Tennessee; 8. Michigan; 9. Oregon State; 10. Xavier (Big East Conference); 11. Lipscomb (Atlantic Sun Conference); 12. Morehead State (Ohio Valley Conference).
Five advancing teams as of today: 1.Mississippi State (-21); 2. Oregon State (-13); 3. Vanderbilt (-7); t-4. Virginia (-5); Tulsa.
On the outside looking in: t-6. Iowa State (-2); Xavier; 8. Michigan (+1).
Individual leader: Julia Lopez Ramirez; Mississippi State (-11; 67-66-133).
Advancing individual as of today: Abby Kiefer, Xavier (-5; 70-69-139).
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Pullman Regional
Palouse Ridge Golf Club: Pullman, Wash.
The Palouse Ridge Golf Club is proving to be the friendliest of the six regional sites, where Stanford leads the way at 35-under while Baylor holds the final spot at 12-under. Sacramento State (-8) and Cal Poly (-1) are also in the red but are currently on the outside looking in. The-top seeded Cardinal followed its 21-under opening round with a 14-under second round and currently holds an 18-stroke lead over Texas Tech. Clemson (-15), USC (-13) and Baylor hold the other three spots while Sacramento State is four shots off the cutline at 8-under. Fifth-seed Kentucky (+1) is in danger of seeing its season come to an end tomorrow.
The teams: 1. Stanford; 2. Baylor; 3. Southern California (Pac-12 Conference); 4. Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference); 5. Kentucky; 6. Texas Tech; 7. Houston; 8. North Carolina; 9. UNLV; 10. Sacramento State (Big Sky Conference); 11. Cal Poly (Big West Conference); 12. Green Bay (Horizon League).
Five advancing teams as of today: 1. Stanford (-35); 2. Texas Tech (-17); 3. Clemson (-15); USC (-13); 5. Baylor (-12).
On the outside looking in: 6. Sacramento State (-8); Cal Poly (-1).
Individual leader: Rose Zhang, Stanford (-12; 64-68-132).
Advancing individual as of today: Camille Boyd, Washington (-9; 66-69).