The UF women’s golf team rose a spot to 16th place after the second day of the Pac-10/SEC Challenge. The Gators posted a team score of 298 (+14) Saturday which was 11 strokes better than the first round score and will enter the final round with an overall team score of 607 (309-298, +39).
“It was a better day for us,” Florida Head Coach Jan Dowling said. “We limited our mistakes and when we made a mistake, we did not compound it. If you look at our scorecards, we only had four double bogeys. We need to improve still but we were better.”
The Gators were led by juniors Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) and Marika Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) who shot matching one-over 72’s.
Jensen began her round with a birdie on No. 2 before making back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes to drop to one-over. She birdied the seventh and bogeyed the ninth to enter the turn at one-over. From there, she played steady golf, making par on each of the final nine holes to end her day in a tie for 21st on the overall leaderboard with a 145 (73-72, +3). The Belleair, Fla. native is tied for 15th in the tournament in par-3 scoring as she was one-over on the five par-3’s today, tied for 16th in par-4 scoring after shooting a one-over on the nine par-4’s, and is tied for 14th with six birdies after sinking two during today’s round.
“Evan played a really solid round,” Dowling said. “She had two birdies today and she had three bogeys today but she was never really in a whole lot of trouble and when she did hit a bad shot, she made the smart play and did not let the round get out of hand at all.”
Marika Lendl played a consistent 18 holes from start to finish as she made 17 pars with her lone bogey on the par-4 10th. Her one-over vaulted her 22 places into a tie for 27th with a 36-hole score of 147 (75-72, +5). The Gator junior is tied for 14th in pars with 25 in the 36 holes played thus far.
“Marika had a great ball-striking day today,” Dowling said. “She hit 13 greens today and she probably had between six and eight putts that potentially could have gone in for birdies but unfortunately, none of them did but she is a great putter and they will fall for her tomorrow.”
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) recovered from a tough round to post a five-over 76. She avoided the big numbers that plagued her yesterday as she only recorded one double-bogey to go with a birdie on the par-4 11th, 12 pars and four bogeys and has a cumulative score of 165 (89-76, +23) that has her in a tie for 104th.
“For her to come back showed a lot of character today,” Dowling said. “She only hit five greens today but she got up-and-down a lot. She had to rely on her short game but that is what tough competitors do so that was good.”
Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) improved her score by two strokes in the second round after carding a seven-over 78 which leaves her in a tie for 90th with a total score of 158 (+16). She had 12 pars, five bogeys and one double bogey on the day. Junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) duplicated her first round score with a 10-over 81 and now sits in 100th overall with a 36-hole score of 162 (+20).
Sunday’s final round will have a shotgun start with all players teeing off at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Keep track of the final round via www.golfstat.com and visit www.GatorZone.com for a recap and results.
Team Scores After Round 2
| Place | School | 1 | 2 | Score |
| 1. | UCLA | 285 | 281 | 566 (-2) |
| T2. | Auburn | 286 | 289 | 575 (+7) |
| T2. | Alabama | 289 | 286 | 575 (+7) |
| 4. | Arizona | 286 | 292 | 578 (+10) |
| 5. | California | 290 | 291 | 581 (+13) |
| T6. | Washington | 287 | 295 | 582 (+14) |
| T6. | Stanford | 293 | 289 | 582 (+14) |
| T8. | Arkansas | 288 | 296 | 584 (+16) |
| T8. | Tennessee | 291 | 293 | 584 (+16) |
| 10. | USC | 294 | 291 | 585 (+17) |
| 11. | Georgia | 293 | 293 | 586 (+18) |
| 12. | Vanderbilt | 291 | 302 | 593 (+25) |
| 13. | Mississippi | 300 | 299 | 599 (+31) |
| 14. | South Carolina | 299 | 303 | 602 (+34) |
| 15. | Kentucky | 295 | 308 | 603 (+35) |
| 16. | Florida | 309 | 298 | 607 (+39) |
| 17. | LSU | 316 | 293 | 609 (+41) |
| 18. | Oregon | 307 | 306 | 613 (+45) |
| 19. | Oregon State | 320 | 304 | 624 (+56) |
| T20. | Washington State | 315 | 310 | 625 (+57) |
| T20. | Mississippi State | 319 | 306 | 625 (+57) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 2
| Place | Player (School) | 1 | 2 | Score |
| 1. | Marina Alex (Vanderbilt) | 66 | 70 | 136 (-6) |
| 2. | Cydney Clanton (Auburn) | 68 | 69 | 137 (-5) |
| 3. | Joanne Lee (California) | 65 | 73 | 138 (-4) |
| 4. | Marta Silva Zamora (Georgia) | 69 | 70 | 139 (-3) |
| T5. | Isabelle Boineau (Arizona) | 71 | 69 | 140 (-2) |
| T5. | Stephanie Kono (UCLA) | 73 | 67 | 140 (-2) |
| T5. | Sophia Popov (USC) | 72 | 68 | 140 (-2) |
| T5. | Glory Yang (UCLA) | 69 | 71 | 140 (-2) |
| T9. | Kelli Bowers (Washington) | 70 | 71 | 141 (-1) |
| T9. | Ani Gulugian (UCLA) | 72 | 69 | 141 (-1) |
| T9. | Brooke Pancake (Alabama) | 72 | 69 | 141 (-1) |
Florida Results After Round 2
| Place | Player | 1 | 2 | Score |
| T20. | Evan Jensen | 73 | 72 | 145 (+3) |
| T27. | Marika Lendl | 75 | 72 | 147 (+5) |
| T90. | Mia Piccio | 80 | 78 | 158 (+16) |
| 100. | Andrea Watts | 81 | 81 | 162 (+20) |
| T104. | Isabelle Lendl | 89 | 76 | 165 (+23) |
