Leona Maguire leads by two, Lauren Whyte 

now getting chance to show her class

 

FROM Jack Winters, Duke University website

with a few additional words from Colin Farquharson 

TEMPE, Arizona – Duke University freshman Leona Maguire, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, carded a six-under-par, 66, Friday in the first round at the PING/ASU Invitational and the Irish student - a contender for a place in the GB and I Vagliano Trophy team at Malone GC, Belfast in June -  holds a two-stroke lead with 36 holes remaining at the 6,223-yard, par 72 ASU Karsten Golf Course.
Maguire, who hails from Cavan, Ireland, carded seven birdies on the day and leads by two strokes over Lakareber Abe of Alabama and Lauren Kim of Stanford.  Currently the top-ranked golfer in US women's college golf, Maguire turned in birdies on No. 1 and No. 5 on her way to making the turn at two-under-par, 33.
On the back nine, Maguire reeled off five straight birdies from holes 10-14 to move to seven-under-par.  She suffered her lone bogey on the day on 18 to finish the round with a 66.  Maguire’s seven birdies tied a career high.
As a team, Duke carded a two-under-par, 286, and is in second place overall.  Arkansas holds a two-stroke lead, after notching a 284.  Arizona State (287), Stanford (288), South Carolina (288), Arizona (288), Southern California (289), Alabama (289), Washington (290) and Texas (291) round out the top 10.
The Blue Devils held a lead heading into the final few holes Friday, but dropped six strokes over the final three holes to fall into second place.  Duke was a combined six-under-par on holes 12 and 13 with seven birdies and one bogey in round one.
Junior Celine Boutier, the world's top-ranked female amateur golfer, carded a three-under-par, 69, and is tied fourth overall.  Boutier, who is from Montrouge, France, opened her day with six consecutive pars, before totaling her first of four birdies on the 155-yard, par three seventh.  She went to three-under-par with back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and No. 13.  Boutier had a bogey on No. 15, but closed with two pars and a birdie on the 537-yard, par five 17th to finish with a 69.
Going through a swing change most of the season, Leona Maguire's twin sister Lisa carded a five-over-par, 77, Friday and is tied 70th.  Maguire, a former GB and I international, suffered only two bogeys over her first 16 holes and was two-over-par, but she closed with a bogey on No. 17 and a double-bogey on 18 to finish the day.
:Colin Farquharson writes - Leona Maguire continues to impress and her dominance over US college circuit players from the Continent, such as Celine Boutier, who will be in the tean to face GB and I in the Vagliano Trophy, is heartening.
It is a long time since GB and I beat the Continent but with Leona in inspiring form, team captain Elaine Farquharson-Black will be feeling more optimistic. 

Also good to see that former Scottish girls champion Lauren Whyte, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, a freshman at Baylor University, Waco in Texas, is at last getting the chance to show what she can do after being left on the sidelines by the Baylor head coach for most of her first college year.
From not getting a game to joint leading Baylor player in this prestigious tournament - T14 with team-mate Hayley Davis from Dorset - that's been the rags to riches change of fortune for Lauren.
She and Hayley both shot one-under-par 71s.
Hayley is an obvious GB and I team place contender as are two other players in the Arizona field - Charlotte Thomas (Washingon) who is T41 after a 74 and Bronte Law (UCLA) who is T53 with a 75.

Duke Results
- 1 Leona Maguire Duke 66 -6
- T4 Celine Boutier Duke 69 -3
- T41 Sandy Choi Duke 74 +2
- T70 Lisa Maguire Duke 77 +5
- T75 Gurbani Singh Duke 78 +6
- 83 Irene Jung * Duke 80 +8*
*played as an individual

1 Team Scores
1 Arkansas 284 -4
2 Duke 286 -2
3 Arizona State 287 -1
T4 South Carolina 288 E
T4 Stanford 288 E
T4 Arizona 288 E
T7 Southern California 289 +1
T7 Alabama 289 +1
9 Washington 290 +2
10 Texas 291 +3
T11 UCLA 292 +4
T11 Baylor 292 +4
13 Oklahoma 293 +5
14 UNLV 296 +8
15 San Diego State 302 +14
INDIVIDUAL SCOREBOARD
Start Finish Player Team Scores
- 1 Leona Maguire Duke 66 -6
- T2 Lakareber Abe Alabama 68 -4
- T2 Lauren Kim Stanford 68 -4
- T4 Jia Xin Yang * South Carolina 69 -3
- T4 Harley Dubsky UNLV 69 -3
- T4 Monica Vaughn Arizona State 69 -3
- T4 Regina Plasencia Arkansas 69 -3
- T4 Celine Boutier Duke 69 -3
- T9 Tezira Abe Texas 70 -2
- T9 Gaby Lopez Arkansas 70 -2
- T9 Noemi Jimenez Arizona State 70 -2
- T9 Justine Dreher South Carolina 70 -2
- T9 Ana Ruiz Oklahoma 70 -2
- T14 Bertine Strauss Texas 71 -1
- T14 Cyd Okino Washington 71 -1
- T14 Amy Lee Southern California 71 -1
- T14 Jennifer Yang Washington 71 -1
- T14 Annie Park Southern California 71 -1
- T14 Wanasa Zhou Arizona 71 -1
- T14 Lauren Whyte Baylor 71 -1
- T14 Emma Talley Alabama 71 -1
- T14 Erynne Lee UCLA 71 -1
- T14 Hayley Davis Baylor 71 -1
- T24 Samantha Marks Arkansas 72 E
- T24 Manon Gidali Arizona 72 E
- T24 Sarah Schmelzel South Carolina 72 E
- T24 Lindsey Weaver Arizona 72 E
- T24 Valerie Tanguay Oklahoma 72 E
- T29 Victoria Morgan * Southern California 73 +1
- T29 Natalie Karcher Texas 73 +1
- T29 Mary Fran Hillow South Carolina 73 +1
- T29 Summar Roachell Arkansas 73 +1
- T29 Sophia Zeeb Arizona State 73 +1
- T29 Krystal Quihuis Arizona 73 +1
- T29 Katelyn Dambaugh South Carolina 73 +1
- T29 Doris Chen Southern California 73 +1
- T29 Lydia Choi UCLA 73 +1
- T29 Louise Ridderstrom UCLA 73 +1
- T29 Shannon Aubert Stanford 73 +1
- T29 Quirine Eijkenboom Stanford 73 +1
- T41 Georgia Lacey San Diego State 74 +2
- T41 Maggie Neece * Oklahoma 74 +2
- T41 Kendall Prince * Arizona 74 +2
- T41 Emma Henrikson San Diego State 74 +2
- T41 Charlotte Thomas Washington 74 +2
- T41 Gabriella Then Southern California 74 +2
- T41 Eimi Koga Washington 74 +2
- T41 Mia Landegren Alabama 74 +2
- T41 Karen Chung Southern California 74 +2
- T41 Mariah Stackhouse Stanford 74 +2
- T41 Sandy Choi Duke 74 +2
- T41 Laura Lonardi Baylor 74 +2
- T53 Mariko Tumangan * Stanford 75 +3
- T53 Mackenzie Raim UNLV 75 +3
- T53 Aliea Clark * UCLA 75 +3
- T53 Dana Finkelstein UNLV 75 +3
- T53 Ashleigh Greenham Arizona State 75 +3
- T53 Ainhoa Olarra South Carolina 75 +3
- T53 Ying Luo Washington 75 +3
- T53 Casey Danielson Stanford 75 +3
- T53 Bronte Law UCLA 75 +3
- T53 Hannah Wood Oklahoma 75 +3
- T63 Emilie Alonso * Arizona State 76 +4
- T63 Andrea Vilarasau Arizona 76 +4
- T63 Erin Choi UCLA 76 +4
- T63 Cammie Gray Alabama 76 +4
- T63 Giovana Maymon Baylor 76 +4
- T63 Alexandra Kaui Oklahoma 76 +4
- T63 Janie Jackson Alabama 76 +4
- T70 Avery French UNLV 77 +5
- T70 Milagros Chaves San Diego State 77 +5
- T70 Julia Beck Texas 77 +5
- T70 Sirene Blair San Diego State 77 +5
- T70 Lisa Maguire Duke 77 +5
- T75 Anne Hakula Texas 78 +6
- T75 Haleigh Krause * San Diego State 78 +6
- T75 Nicole Morales * Alabama 78 +6
- T75 Alana Uriell Arkansas 78 +6
- T75 Gurbani Singh Duke 78 +6
- T80 Saki Iida * Arizona State 79 +7
- T80 Louise Gateau-Chovelon * Baylor 79 +7
- T80 Dylan Kim Baylor 79 +7
- 83 Irene Jung * Duke 80 +8
- 84 Roberta Liti Arizona State 81 +9
- 85 Rylee Pedigo Oklahoma 82 +10
- 86 Paige Spiranac San Diego State 83 +11
- 87 Mayko Chwen Wang UNLV 84 +12