DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The No. 24 University of Florida women’s golf team will enter the final round of the NCAA East Regional in eighth place after totaling a 297 (+9) in Friday’s second round. Florida’s depth came through as junior Andrea Watts (Bradenton, Fla.) was the team’s low-scorer with a 72 (E) from the fourth spot in the lineup while senior captain Jessica Yadloczky (Casselberry, Fla.) recorded the Orange and Blue’s second-best round of the day with a 73 (+1) from the five-hole.
“Any time that you have your two lowest scorers coming from the four and five positions, it’s a great thing and it shows that we have depth,” head coach Jan Dowling said. “It shows that our four and five players have some talent.”
Watts led off for Florida and in what would be a theme, followed a bogey on 13 with a birdie on the par-5 14th. She pushed a short putt right for bogey on 16 but quickly bounced back with a birdie on 17. Another birdie on No. 2 took her to one-under for the round and after bogeys on No. 3 and No. 6, she birdied her third par-5 of the afternoon on No. 8 and capped it off with a two-putt from the back fringe. The 72 was Watts’ second-lowest round of the spring and she is tied for sixth in par-5 scoring, shooting two-under on the eight par-5’s thus far. She is currently tied for 38th on the individual leaderboard.
“I think the biggest thing that has stopped me from playing well so far this year my tee shots,” Watts said. “Today, I kind of bit the bullet, put my driver away and played really, really conservative and that was the key for me to make the putts I needed to make. I focused more on the speed of the greens because with the weather changing throughout the day, that was really important for me to make the putts that I needed. It was definitely a confidence thing. Bogeys were not a big thing. I knew I was going to make a comeback.”
“The funny thing about teams is that you have depth,” Yadloczky said of her teammate. “Andrea has been playing well and she was comfortable today. She was just focusing on herself and being comfortable brought out being confident.”
Yadloczky started slowly as bogeys on 11 and 14 dropped her to two-over but began her ascent on 16 where she hit her approach to about 12 feet and then drained a birdie putt with a slight break from left to right. She birdied the par-5 No. 2 to draw back even and after a double bogey on No. 4, carded her third birdie on a par-5 of the round on No. 8 to finish with a 73 (+1) and is also knotted for 38th.
“I think with me, it’s all about confidence on the putting green and I’ve been working really hard with the mental side of putting,” Yadloczky revealed. “It’s not necessarily technique. I’m just trying to focus on what I’m thinking about as I approach the greens.”
The senior was also three-under on the four par-5’s Friday and is tied for fourth in par-5 scoring, tallying a three-under through the first two days of the tournament.
“I’m most confident with a wedge in my hand so if I’m inside of 70 yards, I’m going right for the flag,” Yadloczky said. “It’s like a target and I’m going for the bulls-eye. I would hit it close and my putter was on so I would make the putt.”
Sophomore Mia Piccio (Bacolod City, Philippines) posted a 74 (+2) in the second round and is one of three Gators sitting in a tie for 38th. Piccio played a clean opening nine with pars on each hole before registering a bogey on No. 1. A birdie on No. 4 pulled her back to even and two bogeys late left her with a 74. The steady sophomore is tied for third in pars with 28 in 36 holes.
“She’s a competitor and she’s not happy with (her score) but she’s got to have confidence that she is going to play well tomorrow because we do as well,” Dowling said.
Junior Evan Jensen (Belleair, Fla.) shot a 78 (+6) in a round where two holes interrupted a promising round. She began the afternoon with a tough par save on 10. After hitting the fairway off the tee, she found the bunker with her second shot. She chipped out to 35 feet from the hole and then improbably, sank the par putt. After pars on her first six holes, she hit a ball out of bounds and double bogeyed 16 but completed her first nine holes at two-over. A quadruple bogey dropped her to six-over and she went bogey-birdie-bogey-par-birdie to end six-over.
Sophomore Isabelle Lendl (Goshen, Conn.) opened her round with a birdie on 10. After hitting her tee shot to the middle of the fairway, she hit her approach to within 10 feet and buried the uphill putt. A bogey on 14 put her at even and she remained that way through nine. A triple bogey on No. 1 was followed by a birdie on No. 2 but a five-hole stretch where she went five-over put her at seven-over before a birdie on No. 8 brought her back to six-over.
“Except for a couple bad holes, we played really solid golf and that’s what we need to focus on,” Dowling said. “It’s unfortunate that we had a little blip there in the middle of our round but we have to focus on the good things. Another thing I saw today that was good is that there was patience out there and we are going to need that tomorrow.”
Top-seeded Alabama leads the NCAA East Regional with a 571 (-5), four strokes ahead of second-place North Carolina.
Florida is paired with Florida State and Michigan State and will open play in Saturday’s final round at 8:00 a.m. ET on No. 1. Jensen will enter the tee box first followed by Lendl at 8:11, Yadloczky at 8:22, Watts at 8:33 and Piccio at 8:44.
The top eight teams and two individuals not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championships in Bryan, Texas from May 18-21.
Follow the Gators at www.golfstat.com for live scoring, on Twitter and at www.GatorZone.com for a recap and updated results after the conclusion of the NCAA East Regional.
Team Scores After Round 2
| Place | School | 1 | 2 | Score |
| 1. | Alabama | 287 | 284 | 571 (-5) |
| 2. | North Carolina | 293 | 282 | 575 (-1) |
| 3. | Purdue | 295 | 285 | 580 (+4) |
| 4. | Arizona State | 295 | 288 | 583 (+7) |
| 5. | Coastal Carolina | 286 | 298 | 584 (+8) |
| 6. | California | 290 | 295 | 585 (+9) |
| 7. | Florida State | 297 | 295 | 592 (+16) |
| 8. | Florida | 298 | 297 | 595 (+19) |
| T9. | Michigan State | 297 | 299 | 596 (+20) |
| T9. | Mississippi | 303 | 293 | 596 (+20) |
| 11. | Vanderbilt | 302 | 295 | 597 (+21) |
| 12. | TCU | 302 | 297 | 599 (+23) |
| 13. | Auburn | 302 | 299 | 601 (+25) |
| 14. | Louisville | 301 | 302 | 603 (+27) |
| 15. | Augusta State | 302 | 302 | 604 (+28) |
| T16. | Florida International | 311 | 301 | 612 (+36) |
| T16. | UNC Wilmington | 304 | 308 | 612 (+36) |
| T18. | Colorado | 306 | 307 | 613 (+37) |
| T18. | Stetson | 304 | 309 | 613 (+37) |
| 20. | Kentucky | 306 | 309 | 615 (+39) |
| T21. | Texas Tech | 316 | 303 | 619 (+43) |
| T21. | Yale | 310 | 309 | 619 (+43) |
| 23. | Fairleigh Dickinson | 312 | 324 | 636 (+60) |
| 24. | Alabama State | 334 | 334 | 668 (+92) |
Individual Top 10 Through Round 2
| Place | Player (School) | 1 | 2 | Score |
| 1. | Stephanie Meadow (Alabama) | 71 | 67 | 138 (-6) |
| 2. | Caroline Powers (Michigan State) | 71 | 69 | 140 (-4) |
| T3. | Jessica Negron (Florida State) | 69 | 73 | 142 (-2) |
| T3. | Daniela Holmqvist (California) | 70 | 72 | 142 (-2) |
| T5. | Maria Salinas (Florida State) | 74 | 69 | 143 (-1) |
| T5. | Pia Halbig (California) | 73 | 70 | 143 (-1) |
| T5. | Camilla Lennarth (Alabama) | 72 | 71 | 143 (-1) |
| T5. | Carlota Ciganda (Arizona State) | 73 | 70 | 143 (-1) |
| T9. | Natalie Gleadall (Mississippi) | 76 | 68 | 144 (E) |
| T9. | Katherine Perry (North Carolina) | 75 | 69 | 144 (E) |
| T9. | Catherine O’Donnell (North Carolina) | 70 | 74 | 144 (E) |
| T9. | Brooke Pancake (Alabama) | 72 | 72 | 144 (E) |
| T9. | Laura Gonzalez (Purdue) | 72 | 72 | 144 (E) |
Florida Results After Round 2
| Place | Player | 1 | 2 | Score |
| T38. | Andrea Watts | 77 | 72 | 149 (+5) |
| T38. | Jessica Yadloczky | 76 | 73 | 149 (+5) |
| T38. | Mia Piccio | 75 | 74 | 149 (+5) |
| T48. | Isabelle Lendl | 72 | 78 | 150 (+6) |
| T73. | Evan Jensen | 75 | 78 | 153 (+9) |
