⛳️ Clark, Rothman Pace Kansas in Second Round of PING/ASU Invitational

PHOENIX – The Kansas women’s golf team climbed two spots on the leaderboard Friday after a second-round team score of 292 (+4), which put the Jayhawks in 13th place at +12 with 18 holes left to play at the PING/ASU Invitational.

Junior Lauren Clark led the Kansas lineup with a one-under round of 71 on the day.

UCLA and Northwestern hold a share of the lead over the 17-team field at -7, followed by Baylor (-6), Stanford (-5) and Oklahoma State (-4) to round out the top five.

“We played much better today and got off to a good start and competed the entire day,” said Kansas third-year head coach Lindsay Kuhle. “I am proud of Lauren’s solid round and her ball striking and speed control today. I am also really happy for Jordan (Rothman) and Lyla (Louderbaugh) and their comeback today.”

Clark, who sits T30 after 36 holes, is +1 for the tournament after her under-par second round on Friday. Clark carded four birdies and allowed just three bogeys to lead Kansas in scoring for the day.

Rothman was next in line for the Jayhawks, posting an even-par round of 72 to bounce back from her opening-round of 77. Rothman allowed three bogeys on her scorecard in the second round, but evened it out with three birdies to finish at even-par for the day. Rothman is T63 at +5.

Lily Hirst sits in a tie for 47th after posting a three-over round of 75 in the second round. Hirst’s lone birdie of the day came on the par-five 15th hole, keeping her at +3 for the event.

Senior Hanna Hawks sits T71 at +6 after a round of 77 (+5) and freshman Lyla Louderbaugh is T82. After opening the event with an 81, Louderbaugh muscled out a two-over round of 74 to bounce back in the lineup, carding three birdies on the day.

Johanna Ebner is T78 at +9 and is competing as an individual for Kansas this weekend.

“Tomorrow is a big day for us as we’ll be playing in more windy conditions on a firm and fast course,” Kuhle said ahead of the final round. “I’m excited to see this team finish strong and play KU golf, which is fearless golf with great confidence.”

The third and final round will tee off on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. CT. Fans can follow along with live scoring provided by Golfstat.