The Blue Devils turned in their best round of the NCAA Championship Thursday, and now find themselves 18 holes away from claiming their sixth national title.
No. 3 Duke fired a two-under-par 278 to vault itself to the top of the leaderboard and seize a six-stroke lead entering Friday’s final round at the Tulsa Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. The Blue Devils sit at 16-over-par after 54 holes and claimed their first lead of the Championship early in Thursday’s round. Duke will try to hold off Southern California—which also shot 278 Thursday and is alone in second place—and 36-hole leader Oklahoma, which is 10 strokes behind the Blue Devils.
ACC Player of the Year and Duke sophomore Celine Boutier is in position to take home the individual title after firing a three-under-par 67 Thursday to tie Southern California’s Doris Chen atop the leaderboard at three-under-par for the tournament. Boutier and Chen are the only individuals under par after three rounds.
“[We] played really well,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “We had wind again, but it was a little more predictable and a little less gusty. They stayed patient. We had our share of mistakes and went into some water, normal things that happen in a round of golf, but they just recovered emotionally and it was great. I was happy to see those birdies. I was on 14 and saw us give up a couple when USC was getting birdies, but then within a few holes we were getting birdies again.”
Unlike the first two rounds—when she hit tee shots in the water on par-3’s that negated early birdies—Boutier made sure she stayed out of trouble Thursday. The sophomore made four birdies and only one bogey as she made her charge to the top of the leaderboard.
“I felt like I didn’t play much better than the previous two days. I just didn’t make any mistakes on the tee shots,” Boutier commented. “I didn’t make any double-bogeys and I was pretty consistent throughout the round.”
ACC Rookie of the Year Yu Liu bounced back after playing her first 36 holes at 11-over-par, recording a team-high five birdies on the day to highlight a round of two-under-par 68. The freshman’s strong effort keyed the Blue Devils' under-par performance as a team.
Seniors Alejandra Cangrejo and Laetitia Beck carded rounds of 71 and 72, respectively, to make sure Duke capitalized on the low rounds of Liu and Boutier. Although the veteran pair started slowly in the Championship and are a combined 22-over-par, two more rounds near even par Friday could help them go out on top in their final starts as Blue Devils.
After shooting rounds of 72 and 71 the first two days, freshman Sandy Choi carded a third-round 74 and is tied for 20th at seven-over-par.
Duke will tee off at 12:26 p.m. Friday with hopes of claiming multiple national titles to cap off another spectacular season, but will have to hold off the Trojans and Sooners and hope that inclement weather does not derail its solid play.
There is also a chance play could be cut short by bad weather, which was the case in 1999 when Brooks won his first NCAA Championship at the same course.
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