INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – Trailing only the tournament hosts, Austin Peay State University women's golf ended the first 36 of plays at the Butler Invitational in second place, seeking a third top-three finish in three team stroke play events this fall.
The Govs posted a 586 (292-294) at Highland Country Club, their best 36-hole showing as a team this season, to put them four shots clear of third-place Ohio heading into the final round. Loyola-Chicago (594) and Akron (596) rounded out the top-five, with Butler's 571 well up on the field with 18 holes to play.
Two Govs enter Tuesday in the top-10, with senior Jillian Breedlove (69-72—141) in third place and just three strokes off the lead. As usual, she's been one of the most reliable ball-strikers in the field, canning 26 pars over the first 36 holes to lead the Govs and rank third in the tournament.
Also clutching a top-10 spot entering the final round is sophomore Jordin Cowing after matching 73s on Monday. She closed out round one with back-to-back birdies on No. 3 and No. 4, holes which yielded just 21 birdies combined in 174 rounds on Monday.
Senior Abby Hirtzel (74-75—149) is tied for 23rd entering the final round; she looks to reprise her three-birdie showing in the first round, which included one of just five first-round birdies recorded on the tricky 153-yard par-3 at No. 4. Sophomore Ella Arnzen (79-74—153) rallied back in the afternoon with a trio of birdies, including another on the par-3 at No. 4; of the 11 birdies recorded on No. 4 during Monday's opening holes, three belonged to the Govs.
Junior Abby Jimenez rounded out the lineup for the Govs with a 154 (76-78), while sophomore Makenna Cox, as the individual, used a second-round 69—the third-best score of any player in the field during the afternoon session—to recover from an opening-round 80. She's tied with Hirtzel at 23rd after leading all Govs with six birdies on Monday.
Final-round action from Highland Country Club begins at 8 a.m., Tuesday; the Govs will be in the top group, going off Hole Nos. 1-3 alongside Butler and Ohio. Cox, as the individual, will begin on No. 14.
