RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Vanderbilt women’s golf went 6-under par on Monday to extend its lead at the Puerto Rico Classic to five strokes. The Commodores now sit at 11-under-par with one round remaining. Three Dores are within the top 10 individually.
“What a great team effort today,” said head coach Greg Allen. “I’m really proud of the bounce back we got from Tillie and Angelina.”
Tillie Claggett, tied for 24th, shot a 2-under 70. Angelina Tolentino also finished under par with a 1-under 71.
“Tillie hit the ball really well and got under par early and carried us until everybody else got it rolling,” said Allen. “Angelina showed a lot of maturity late in her round, making birdies on two of her last three holes.”
Sophomore Ava Merrill – tied for fourth – carded a 1-under-par 71 second round to become 4-under through 36 holes.
“Ava and Lynn played with patience all day,” Allen said. “They were playing much better than their scores showed and hung in there to finish under par. To me, that shows a lot of toughness and resilience.”
Lynn Lim, who went 2-under on Tuesday with an eagle on hole No. 18, and Sara Im, who was 1-over par, are both tied for seventh individually.
“Sara also played better than her score showed,” said Allen. “She burned a lot of edges and I look for that putter to heat back up.”
The Commodores sit with a five-stroke lead over Ole Miss heading into the final round. Arkansas is 4-under par and Northwestern is 3-under. Vanderbilt has holed 29 birdies and two eagles through two rounds and has the lowest Par-5 scoring average at 4.80 strokes per hole.
“I’m excited to see how we handle tomorrow,” said Allen. “We just need to continue doing our thing and enjoying the opportunity in front of us.”
Vanderbilt will tee off the final round with Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Northwestern at 5:30 a.m. CT on Tuesday.
