Led by sophomore Isabelle Lendl, the Florida women’s golf team
improved its play drastically on Saturday at the Liz Murphy
Invitational.
The team shot 5-over-par, seven strokes better than their first
round, placing the team 12th on the leaderboard.
Lendl continued her run of stellar play, turning in a 2-over 74,
good enough to find herself in a tie for fifth on the individual
leaderboard.
Head coach Jan Dowling credited Lendl’s short game, saying it’s
allowed her to reel off long streaks of good rounds.
“She’s reading the greens really well right now,” Dowling
said.
“She had seven one-putts today alone, which is quite an
accomplishment.”
Another positive story for the Gators was the improvement of junior
Andrea Watts. Watts rebounded from a nightmarish 13-over 85 on
Friday with a second round 2-over 74. She gained confidence from a
streak of eight consecutive pars to begin her round, and Dowling
said she believes her confidence will lead to another positive
round on Sunday.
Sophomore Mia Piccio also rebounded from an uncharacteristically
bad first round, shooting a 3-over 75.
Although she saw a five-stroke improvement from her first to her
second round, Piccio was still not satisfied with her play. Piccio
was still out of sync on Saturday and said she still wanted to
improve her ball striking.
Senior Jessica Yadloczky shot a 6-over 78, and junior Evan Jensen
had a disappointing 8-over 80 thanks to a streak of seven straight
bogeys on the front nine.
Dowling said Jensen’s bogey streak was caused by a combination of
“tough holes, a couple of unforced errors, and some windy
conditions,” but she added that she “expects a round on Sunday more
similar to her 1-over-par first round.”
