Tubert three shots back at 72
Former University of Arkansas standout Emily Tubert didn’t mind settling for an opening-round even-par 72 Friday at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout.
Tubert walked away from Mystic Creek Golf Club tied for sixth place after the first day of the LPGA Symetra Tour event, three shots behind Heather Bowie Young of Fort Worth. Play was suspended because of darkness with eight players still on the course.
Tubert, 23, said tricky pin placements, particularly on the back nine, combined with slow play — her round took 5 hours, 40 minutes — made for a grinding day, but she was happy to be in the top 10 despite a double bogey at the par-5, 512-yard fifth hole.
“You really had to play at the meat of the greens today,” Tubert said. “If you were firing at the pins, particularly on the back nine, you had the potential to make big numbers and there were some big ones being made.”
Tubert started on the backside with seven consecutive pars before a bogey on the eighth and a birdie on the ninth left her at even. She fought back from the double bogey on the fifth with birdies on the sixth and ninth holes to finish off her 72. The three-time NCAA All-American nearly holed out from the fairway at the par-4, 362-yard sixth as her wedge flew past the flag, spun back and lipped out of the hole.
Another good wedge to within 6 feet led to the birdie on No. 9, also a par-4.
“I really wanted to make that birdie at the last,” Tubert said. “I knew it was big to get back to even. Overall, I played solid and put myself in position to score.”
Young also started on No. 10 and was 1 under heading to the front side. A former winner on the LPGA Tour at the 2005 Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic, Young got on a roll there, making birdie on three of four holes between No. 2 and No. 5 to get to 4 under. A bogey at the par-4, 401-yard ninth was the only blemish on her final nine.
Sponsor invite Ally McDonald of Fulton, Miss., finished off her first round with an eagle at the par-5, 465-yard 18th to get to 2 under and within a stroke of Young. She is joined there by Ani Gulugian of Irvine, Calif.
Chie Arimura of Japan is tied for fourth at 1 under along with Jackie Stoelting of Vero Beach, Fla., who finished only 16 holes before play was stopped.
Julia Roth (Central Arkansas) had back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th — her front nine — to get to even par but had bogeys on Nos. 3 and 9 to close her opening round with a 2-over 74.
Megan Vaughn (Lake Village, UALR) went 5 over in a four-hole stretch on the backside and finished with a 7-over 79.
Amanda McCurdy (El Dorado, Razorbacks) suffered through a 13-over 85 and sits in a tie for 122nd in the 128-player field.
Opening-round play will resume at 8 a.m. today, while the second round will start at its scheduled 7:30 a.m.