Duncan, Blue Devils Open in First at the Liz Murphey Classic

Friday, March 26

Athens, Ga.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Duncan Moves into the Top 5 at the NCAA Championship

Duncan, Blue Devils Open in First at the Liz Murphey Classic

3/26/2010 6:00:00 PM | Women's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

ATHENS, Ga. - The Duke women's golf team opened the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on Friday with a 10-shot lead led by freshman Lindy Duncan's two-under-par, 70, ledger at the Par 72, 6,335-Yard University of Georgia Golf Course.

The Blue Devils registered a 12-over-par, 300, on Friday and holds a 10-shot lead over North Carolina (310), Purdue (310) and Auburn (310). Arkansas (312), Michigan State (314), Florida (314), Ohio State (315), Wake Forest (316) and Alabama (316).

"I am real happy for Lindy as she has been having some wrist trouble and hasn't been able to put in the kind of practice she would like to do," said Duke Head Coach Dan Brooks. "She has had to protect her wrist so for her to go under par is great. The wind really blew today so far her to go under par with that kind of wind is really good golf."

Duncan, who is out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., opened her day on hole 10 and with a birdie on the 511-yard, par five 12th hole she moved to one-under-par. She closed the first nine holes with a bogey on No. 17 but played the final nine at two-under-par with birdies on No. 1, No. 7 and No. 9. Duncan holds a four shot lead over Callie Nielson of Virginia, Marta Silva Zamora of Georgia and Cheyenne Woods of Wake Forest.

Junior Kim Donovan is tied for fifth after turning in a 75 on Friday. A product of Hopkinton, Mass., Donovan totaled birdies on No. 5, No. 15 and No. 18. A native of Columbus, Ga., freshman Stacey Kim is tied for 12th with a 76 on day one. Kim had a stretch over her first nine holes where she registered three straight birdies and four out of six holes.

"Everybody is just on board and trying to get better," said Brooks. "Being able to grab a lead while you are working on getting better and thinking about your game. They were not just out there freely playing -- they were all working hard. It is great to be able to lead a tournament after that."

Freshman Courtney Ellenbogen and senior Alison Whitaker struggled on Friday with rounds of 79 and 82, respectively.

"I am real happy with Courtney," said Brooks. "I had Courtney working on golf swing stuff. We let her slide a little bit and got away from some of her fundamentals -- I fault myself for that. I started working on them going into this tournament. I give her a lot of credit to have that much on her mind -- shoot a 43 and come back with the wind blowing strong with a 36. That was just pure guts there and she ended up counting for us. It ended up being a very important round."

Duke will tee off on Saturday in the second round at 9:55 a.m.

Duke Results
1 - 11 Lindy Duncan (10)   Duke -2 F -2 70 70
T5 -    Kim Donovan (10)   Duke +3 F +3 75 75
T12 -    Stacey Kim (10)   Duke +4 F +4 76 76
T32 - 58 Courtney Ellenbogen (10)   Duke +7 F +7 79 79
T66 - 68 Alison Whitaker (10)   Duke +10 F +10 82 82

Top 10 Teams
1 4 Duke   +12 F    +12 300 300
T2 34 North Carolina   +22 F    +22 310 310
T2 13 Purdue   +22 F    +22 310 310
T2 2 Auburn   +22 F    +22 310 310
5 39 Arkansas, U. of   +24 F    +24 312 312
T6 14 Michigan State   +26 F    +26 314 314
T6 12 Florida, U of   +26 F    +26 314 314
8 21 Ohio State   +27 F    +27 315 315
T9 9 Wake Forest   +28 F    +28 316 316
T9 6 Alabama, U. of   +28 F    +28 316 316

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