Tadokoro in first place after day two of Louisville Cardinal Cup

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was an impressive day of consistent shooting for the Kansas women’s golf team as it ended the second round of the Louisville Cardinal Cup in a tie for fifth place Saturday afternoon.

Junior Sera Tadokoro was the driving force moving the Jayhawks up the leaderboard as she shot 3-under par 69. Tadokoro got off to a hot start, shooting even and carding birdies through the front-nine while in first place. After a pair of bogeys, she stayed mentally tough and recorded two more birdies to end in a tie for first.

“Sera had an excellent day with five birdies again and got her score in the 60’s,” said head coach Erin O’Neil. “She’s been hitting the ball so well and has been in a great space mentally. Tomorrow is a brand new day and she needs to stay focused on what’s in her control, play to her strengths and the rest will take care of itself.”

After her 8-over par first round, sophomore Pear Pooratanaopa rebounded to score 2-under par 70 and move into 22nd place during the second round. Pooratanaopa carded even scores or birdies in all but one frame and puts herself in good positioning to finish out the final round.

“Pear had a fabulous turn around today and could have taken her score even lower if a couple more putts would have fallen for her,” said O’Neil. “She was very steady and consistent and did a great job of putting herself in position to score.”

Senior Yi-Tsen Chou had a consistent day of shooting as well while recording a score of 1-over par 73. Chou had a strong finish on the back-nine to finish inside the top-20 in 18th place.

Freshman Ying-Ting Hsieh and junior Aristelle Acuff both struggled with bogeys throughout the second round and were not able to make a run up the leaderboard.

Kansas looks to take the same energy into the final round Sunday to finish the fall tournament season on a high note.

"I was impressed that we didn’t let yesterday’s round get us down or lose our confidence. We putted better overall and were able to get some birdie putts to drop. I also think we improved our course management with eliminating the big numbers. It makes it so much easier to recover from a couple of bad holes if you can keep it at bogey or better when in trouble. We will have to continue with the same mindset going into tomorrow – staying in the present and not playing scared."

Erin O'Neil, Head Coach

The Jayhawks will compete in the third and final round of the Cardinal Cup on Sunday, October 20 with a shotgun start scheduled for 8 a.m. (CT).

Fans can follow along throughout the tournament on the KU women’s golf social channels and via GolfStat.