Phuchanbanchob moves up leaderboard 26 spots; Jayhawks end round two in fourth

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Kansas’ Chomchana “Cake” Phuchanbanchob fired five birdies, including three in a row and shot a two-under 70, to finish the second round of the Hawkeye-El Tigre Invitational in a tie for 10^th place, improving from a tie for 36^th place where she started the day.

“Cake played great today,” head coach Erin O’Neil said. “She has been hitting the ball better and better every round and has been putting herself in a position to score. She got her putter rolling and made a few birdies which helped her improve from the first round.”

A stroke behind Phuchanbanchob is freshman Yi-Tsen Chou, who carded her second two-over 74 of the event, which put her at four-over after two rounds and in a tie for 13^th place.

Sophomore Victoria Chandra birdied three holes in her two-over 74 effort to move her five spots up on the leaderboard in a tie 23^rd place.

After a double bogey and two bogeys on her first three holes, sophomore Ariadna Fonseca Diaz was able to salvage the round on the second nine, shooting even, to end the day at five-over and in a tie for 27^th place.

Junior Pitsinee Winyarat finished the second round in 60^th place, after improving five strokes from day one, shooting a second round 77, following her first round 82.

Xinyun Yu, who is competing as an individual, also improved from her first round, shaving seven strokes after carding a 78 following her first round 85. Yu is currently in a tie for 70^th place, at 19-over.

As a team, Kansas’ two-round score is 596 (+20) and stands alone in fourth place. The Jayhawks fired 18 birdies during round two, led by Phuchanbanchob’s five.

“We were able to improve our team score again which is very encouraging,” O’Neil said. “As long as we continue to focus on what is in our control and play patient, committed golf, we will accomplish our goal of improving every day.”

Wisconsin (+10) took over first place, followed by UTSA (+15) and Washington (+17).

The Hawkeye-El Tigre Invitational concludes with the third round Tuesday with an 8:30 a.m. (CT) shotgun start. Live stats are available on GolfStat.com.

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