CARLSBAD, Calif. – Adela Cernousek led the No. 13 Texas A&M women’s golf team to the No. 1 spot on the team leaderboard on Saturday at the 2024 NCAA Championships after firing a 4-under 68 and pacing all individuals at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
“Today was a total team effort,” Head Coach Gerrod Chadwell said. “Everybody was in their round, and it was really hard today. I said yesterday was special, but this was right up there with that. We were learning the golf course under these new conditions on the fly and managed it well. Adela has been phenomenal this week and has been one of the best golfers in college golf for the past two years. Her back nines today and yesterday have made the difference for us.”
The Aggies held a five-stroke advantage over No. 2 Stanford (-6) after shooting 4-under 284 as a team. Texas A&M is looking to stay within the top 15 by the end of Sunday’s round and the top eight at the conclusion of the fourth round to advance to match play for the third-consecutive year. The 30-team field produced a 75.17 stroke average on the second day. All five golfers for the Maroon & White registered a 73-or-better and locked in an 11-under 565 thru 36 holes for the Aggies.
Cernousek was in complete control of her game on Saturday. She was even-par heading into the final six holes of the day, and then sank birdies on Nos. 13, 14, 16 and 17 to get to 4-under. The Antibes, France, native is looking to become the first individual National Champion in program history. She is currently two strokes ahead of Clemson’s Annabelle Pancake (-6) for the lead, taking an 8-under 136 into Saturday.
“I am happy with my game right now,” Cernousek said. “My long game has been really strong, and my putting is good this week as well. The most important thing for me is that we are in a solid position as a team. We have two more rounds to go, but it is nice to see us in first at this point.”
Zoe Slaughter produced a strong outing with a 1-under 71 and tied for 23rd. Blanca Fernández García-Poggio brushed off an early double bogey and went on to get back to even for the day after two red numbers on 16 and 17. The fifth-year senior held a share of 37th.
Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio shot 1-over 73 but was still knotted up for seventh on the individual leaderboard. Jennie Park bounced back from a 7-over 79 in the first round with a 1-over 73 on Saturday and was tied for 101st.
The Maroon & White will tee off at 8:40 a.m. on Sunday to begin the third round. Live stats for the event can be found at Golfstat.com. Additionally, the tournament will be televised on Golf Channel from 5-9 p.m., Monday through Wednesday.
Top-20 Team Standings
1 – Texas A&M (-11)
2 – Stanford (-6)
3 – Clemson (-3)
4 – UCLA (-2)
T5 – Auburn (-1)
T5 – LSU (-1)
7 – Oregon (+1)
T8 – Northwestern (+2)
T8 – Arkansas (+2)
10 – Duke (+3)
11 – USC (+6)
12 – Mississippi State (+8)
13 – Texas (+9)
T14 – Arizona State (+11)
T14 – Wake Forest (+11)
—PROJECTED CUT LINE—
16 – Florida State (+13)
T17 – Pepperdine (+14)
T17 – San Jose State (+14)
T19 – Michigan State (+17)
T19 – South Carolina (+17)
Copyright 2024 KBTX. All rights reserved.