McCurdy Solid In Round 2 Hopeful Of Making The Cut

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, COLORADO – Lady Razorback junior Amanda McCurdy has put herself in position to make the cut at the 60th U.S. Women’s Open with a second round 4-over par 75 that puts her at 8-over par for the tournament. It is now a waiting game for the El Dorado native as the cut won’t officially be made until the completion of round two when field is reduced to the top 60 players and ties, plus any players within 10 strokes of the leader. “I had a triple and a double and still shot 4 over which is very good. I am very exhausted right now. I really don’t know what to say. Those last four holes just almost killed me. We’ll wait and see what happens but I gave it a shot and did my best.,” remarked a weary McCurdy. Amanda was one-over par for the round entering the 428-yard par-4 16th and rolling so it seemed. A booming tee shot found the left to right sloping fairway but left Amanda with a dangerous lie in which the ball was above feet. It would prove costly as her second shot hit some branches and dropped into a hazard on the left side of the hole. After a penalty stroke and a drop 85 yards from the pin, it took 3 shots out of the rough to get the ball on the green for a 6-inch putt for triple bogey. When asked about that shot Amanda replied, “I don’t know what happened on that triple, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.” McCurdy quickly regrouped but it wasn’t easy, her second shot on the 531-yard par 5th found a fairway bunker from which her third shot went through the green and into the rough. A beautiful pitch out of the rough left her with a 2-foot putt, which she promptly sank for par. The first of back to back up and downs for par to close out her round and keep her hopes of making the cut alive. “I felt really good about it until that triple and now I really do have to wait and stress and see what happens”, replied a hopeful McCurdy. “Amanda played great golf today”, noted Arkansas head coach Kelley Hester, “Unfortunately she had one bad hole and really just one bad shot on that hole but this rough is brutal. To focus on her positives, she had 11 putts on the backside coming in and got up and down seven times which is awesome and gutsy golf. I hope she will get to play the weekend.” After completing her first round this morning with a bogey on 8 (her 17th) and a birdie on 9 (her 18th), Amanda had a 45-minute break before beginning her second round. After a par start, she three putted from 6 feet for double bogey on the par 4 second then a three-putt bogey on the par-4 4th put her quickly at 3-over for the day. It was obvious she need a jumpstart and got just that at the 158-yard par 3 6th hole when her tee shot finished 3-and-a-half feet left of the pin. The birdie putt rolled straight into the hole drawing a big roar from the crowd. Solid ball striking and putting allowed her to reel off 5 consecutive pars and cash in for a birdie on the 179-yard par 3 12th hole. Momentium appeared on her side as a beautiful approach to the par 4 13th hole left her with an uphill putt of 3-feet for birdie. Her birdie putt burned the left edge but would not fall leaving a tap-in par. She followed that up with a pair of pars before the aforementioned 16th hole. TV Coverage of round of the U.S. Women’s Open will air on espn2 from 4pm to 8pm and live scoring can be found at the official web site of the U.S. Women’s Open; www.uswomensopen.com. Ladybacks.com will update Amanda’s status in regards to the cut following the completion of round 2 and video highlights of her play Friday will be available after espn2’s coverage goes off the air.