Vavrova Leads Huskers on Day 2 at B1G

Pittsburgh – Michaela Vavrova continued her strong play with a second-round 73 to help the Huskers climb one spot in the team standings on the second day of the Big Ten Women’s Golf Championship at Fox Chapel Golf Club.

Vavrova, a sophomore from Bojnice, Slovakia, started the day tied for first on the leader board after an opening-round 68 (-3) on Friday, and had moved to four-under-par overall after her second birdie of the second round, which came on hole No. 12 Saturday. Vavrova then took a double-bogey on No. 13 before responding with back-to-back pars. She withstood her second bogey of the round, coming on the 412-yard, par-4 16th hole, before closing the round with two more pars. For the round, Vavrova notched 13 pars to go with two birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey.

She will enter Sunday’s final round in a tie for fifth in the individual standings with a two-round total of 141 (-1), well within striking distance of tournament leader Monet Chun from Michigan. Chun fired a second-round 66 (-5) after opening with a 70 (-1) on Friday. She heads to the final round at 136 (-6), one shot ahead of Crystal Wang from Illinois, who matched Chun with a 66 (-5) on the par-71, 6,045-yard layout of Fox Chapel Saturday.  

Nebraska senior Kirsten Baete (Beatrice, Neb.) also continued her strong play by matching Vavrova with a second-round 73 (+2). Baete enters Sunday’s final round tied for 13th at 144 (+2), including an even-par 71 in Friday’s first round. Baete was three-under through Saturday’s first eight holes and made the turn at two-under, before settling for five pars and four bogeys on the back nine. 

In addition to solid rounds from Baete and Vavrova, the Big Red also got bounce-back rounds from Vanessa Bouvet and Megan Whittaker, who both made major jumps up the leader board on Saturday. Bouvet fired Nebraska’s best second-round score with an even-par 71 that featured four birdies, 10 pars and four bogeys. Bouvet notched a two-under 34 on the front nine to help her vault 29 spots up the individual standings into a tie for 36th at 149 (+7) through 36 holes.

Whittaker (Elkhorn, Neb.) joins Bouvet in a tie for 36th after a second-round 72 (+1). Whittaker’s round featured 13 pars, a pair of birdies and three bogeys, as she jumped 18 spots up the individual leader board on Saturday.

With four solid individual rounds, Nebraska produced a 284 (+5) team score to move up one spot from eighth to seventh in the team standings with a two-round total of 583 (+15). Michigan moved to the top of the team standings behind a 281 (-3) on Saturday to enter Sunday’s final round at 566 (-2). The Wolverines are four shots in front of in-state rival Michigan State and Northwestern. The Spartans shot a 288 (+4) in the second round to fall from Friday’s top spot, while the Wildcats matched Michigan’s 281. The Spartans and Northwestern carry two-round totals of 570. Illinois sits alone in fourth at 572, while Ohio State and Maryland round out the top five in the team standings at 577, six strokes ahead of the Huskers.

Miu Takahashi and Nicole Hansen rounded out Nebraska’s six-count-four lineup with rounds of 77 on Saturday.

The Big Ten Championship concludes Sunday with the third round beginning with tee times at 7 a.m. (CT). Live scoring is available from GolfStat.com.

Big Ten Championship

April 22-24, 2022

Pittsburgh, Pa. (Fox Chapel Golf Club)

Par 71, 6,045 Yards

Team Standings (Second Round)

1. Michigan – 285-281-566 (-2)

T2. Michigan State – 282-288-570 (+2)

T2. Northwestern – 289-281-570 (+2)

4. Illinois – 288-284-572 (+4)

T5. Ohio State – 289-288-577 (+9)

T5. Maryland – 288-289-577 (+9)

7. Nebraska – 294-289-583 (+15)

8. Purdue – 285-299-584 (+16)

9. Wisconsin – 299-289-588 (+20)

T10. Minnesota – 299-301-600 (+32)

T10. Penn State – 304-296-300 (+32)

12. Rutgers – 296-305-601 (+33)

T13. Indiana – 313-303-616 (+48)

T13. Iowa – 309-307-616 (+48)

Individual Standings (Second Round)

1. Monet Chun, Michigan – 70-66-136 (-6)

2. Crystal Wang, Illinois – 72-66-138 (-4)

3. Jennifer Cai, Northwestern – 71-68-139 (-3)

4. Maria Vittoria Corbi, Maryland – 69-71-140 (-2)

T5. Michaela Vavrova, Nebraska – 68-73-141 (-1)

T5. Danielle DuToit, Purdue – 69-72-141 (-1)

T5. Brooke Biermann, Michigan State – 73-68-141 (-1)

T8. Panassaya Somchit, Maryland – 72-70-142 (E) 

T8. Faith Choi, Ohio State – 71-71-142 (E)

T8. Leila Raines, Michigan State – 68-74-142 (E)

Nebraska Individuals 

T5. Michaela Vavrova – 68-73-141 (-1)

T13. Kirsten Baete – 71-73-144 (+2)

T36. Vanessa Bouvet – 78-71-149 (+7)

T36. Megan Whittaker – 77-72-149 (+7)

T73. Nicole Hansen – 81-77-158 (+16)

T75. Miu Takahashi – 82-77-158 (+17)