OU’s Mueller Moves Up to Top 20
NORMAN, Okla. – University of Oklahoma golfer Ellen Muellerhttp://www.soonersports.com/sports/w-golf/mtt/mueller_ellen00.htmlhttp://www.soonersports.com/sports/w-golf/mtt/mueller_ellen00.html> > shot a second-round 72 (+1) at the NCAA West Regional in Stanford, Calif., Friday to climb to 17th place out of 122 competitors.
Mueller, representing the Sooners individually, came into the day at 5-over and in a tie for 47th place and now owns a two-round score of 148 (+6). She was one of only nine golfers to record a 72 or better on the day.
“I feel like my game is starting to come around and I gave myself more birdie opportunities,” Mueller said Friday evening. “I had a good practice session after my round today and am ready for tomorrow.”
Mueller started her round strong, collecting par on her first six holes. She heated up with birdies on holes No. 7 and 8 and finished the front nine with a 33 (-2).
“Ellen played consistent golf all day,” said OU head coach Veronique Drouin. “When she made the turn at 4 p.m. the wind started to pick up and had an effect on her game.”
The junior shot par on six of the next seven holes before bogeying holes No. 17 and 18 to finish with a 39 (+3) on the back nine.
Mueller, who was recently named to the 2009-10 All-Big 12 Team, holds a 74.44 season stroke average, a program best. She has posted six top-10 finishes and four top-five finishes in 2009-10.
Arizona leads the 24-team field with a two-round score of 144 (+2). UCLA is in a close second, trailing by one stroke.
Individually, Camilla Lennarth was the only golfer to finish under par on the day. Leading the field is San Jose State sophomore Madeleine Ziegert, who stands at -1 in the tournament.
In order to advance to the NCAA Championships, Mueller must finish among the top two individuals among 16 non-advancing teams and the other two individual regional qualifiers.
There are only three golfers ahead of Mueller that belong to a school currently not in the top 8: San Jose State’s Madeleine Ziegert (-1), UNLV’s Alejandra Guacaneme (+3) and Stanford’s Sally Watson (+4).
“She has 18 holes left with a great opportunity to make a move,” added Drouin.
Mueller is grouped with the two other individual competitors, North Dakoa State’s Amy Anderson (+8 through 36 holes) and Minnesota’s Teresa Puga (+8). The group will start Saturday’s final round at 10:55 a.m. CT.
Continuing coverage of Mueller’s play at the 2010 NCAA West Regional will be available at SoonerSports.com <http://SoonerSports.com> and on the OU women’s golf program’s new Twitter page, twitter.com/OU_WomensGolf <http://twitter.com/OU_WomensGolf><https://twitter.com/OU_Womensgolf <https://twitter.com/OU_Womensgolf> > . Live stats are available at GolfStat.com <http://GolfStat.com><http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=1858 <http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=1858> > .
Updated 05-09-2010
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