Women’s Golf Remains in Second at Big 12 Championships

Friday, April 19

The Clubs at Houston Oaks – Hockley, Texas

University of Houston

Big 12 Championships

Photo by: Joe Buvid For Houston Athletics

Women’s Golf Remains in Second at Big 12 Championships

4/19/2024 5:04:00 PM | Women's Golf

Highlights Live Scoring Photo Gallery Watch Saturday's Final Round (12:30 p.m.)Tee Times The Clubs at Houston Oaks

Cougars lower First-Round score by two strokes Friday; Svedenskiold in fourth at -2; Saldana joins her among Top-10 leaders

By: Jeff Conrad

Update: This story was updated at 6:35 p.m., Friday, April 19, with new starting tee times for Saturday's Final Round due to threat of weather and Big 12 Now on ESPN+ broadcast time.

HOCKLEY, Texas – University of Houston Women's Golf sophomore Moa Svedenskiold posted a 2-under 69 lead the Cougars and rise to fourth during the Second Round of the Big 12 Championships at The Clubs at Houston Oaks on Friday afternoon.

As a team, the Cougars lowered their first-day score by two strokes with a 286 and stood in second at 574 to trail Texas by five strokes entering Saturday's Final Round.

Starting off No. 10 on the 6,249-yard, par-71 course Friday, Svedenskiold drained her first birdie on the par-3 13^th hole. Overcoming a bogey on the next hole, she returned to red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 18^th hole to close her first nine.

The Halmstad, Sweden, native started her second nine with four straight pars before making birdie on the short par-3 fifth hole. She rallied from her final bogey of the day at No. 6 with a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole and finished the Second Round with a total of 2-under 140.

Fellow sophomore Alexa Saldana joined Svedenskiold among the Top 10 and was tied for seventh at 143.

Competing in her first conference championships as a Cougar, junior Hyeonji Kang joined Svedenskiold at par or better in Friday's round, shooting a 71 thanks to a solid second nine.

The Jeju, South Korea, native overcame a double-bogey 6 on the 14^th hole, draining three birdies in the first eight holes of her second nine to return to even par and was tied for 16^th at 145.

Senior Nicole Abelar was tied for 19^th at 146 while freshman Maelynn Kim was tied for 56^th at 156.

In the team standings, Baylor and Kansas State were tied for fourth at 581 with Kansas (586), Texas Tech (588), Oklahoma (588), Oklahoma State (589) and TCU (593) completing the Top 10 leaders.

Individually, Iowa State's stood atop the leaderboard at 134 and was four strokes ahead of Texas' Farah O'Keefe. Iowa State's Liyana Durisic was in third at 139 while Texas' Lauren Kim was in fifth at 141.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow live scoring at the Big 12 Championships on GolfStat by clicking here.

TUNE IN
Fans can watch Saturday's Final Round live on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ beginning at 10 a.m., Saturday, with Ryan Burr and Suzy Whaley calling the action.

TEE TIMES
Due to the threat of weather on Saturday afternoon, tee times for the Final Round were moved to an 8:15 a.m., shotgun start.

Houston will compete in groups with student-athletes from Texas and Iowa State.

Saldana will tee off in the first group off No. 1 with Svedenskiold (second group off No. 1), Kang (No. 2), Abelar (No. 3) and Kim (second group off No. 4) following.

Fans can find complete tee times and pairings on GolfStat by clicking here.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
This is the 10^th conference championships appearances in Houston history.

The Cougars captured American Athletic Conference Championships titles in 2019, 2018 and 2017 and have never finished below fourth in their history with Top-Three showings in all but one season.

In their most recent appearance, Houston finished fourth at the 2024 American Championships with a score of 2-under 862 at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Fla.

Svedenskiold fired three straight sub-par round and finished second at 8-under 208. Abelar and Annie Kim joined her among the Top-20 leaders.

Abelar is making her first conference championships appearance in her third different league. She finished second at the 2021 Sun Belt Championships with Coastal Carolina and earned Top-15 finishes in back-to-back years at The American Championships in 2023 and 2022.

Kang is making her third appearance with her second league. She tied for fourth as a freshman at Hawai'i at the 2022 Big West Championships.

Saldana and Svedenskiold are making their second straight appearance at a conference championships while Kim made her collegiate postseason debut.

UP NEXT
Following the Big 12 Championships, the Cougars learn their postseason fate during the NCAA Selection Show. That show will air at 1 p.m., Wednesday, April 24, on Golf Channel.

Eighty-one (81) teams and 10 individuals not on those teams will be selected to compete at the NCAA Regionals to be held at one of six sites across the country on May 6-8.

Those NCAA Regional sites include Auburn University Club (Auburn, Ala., hosted by Auburn); Tumble Creek Club (Cle Elum, Wash., hosted by Washington); Traditions Club (Bryan-College Station, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M); Forest Akers Golf Course (East Lansing, Mich., hosted by Michigan State); Spanish Trail Country Club (Las Vegas, hosted by UNLV) and East Course – Bermuda Run Country Club (Winston-Salem, N.C., hosted by Wake Forest).

The top five teams and top individual not on an advancing team at each NCAA Regional site advance to the NCAA Championships set for May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

SUPPORT YOUR COOGS
Fans can make a direct impact on the success of Houston Women's Golf by supporting Linking Coogs – UH's NIL collective – and by joining the P.A.R. 4 Club, which provides financial support directly to Houston Women's Golf for needs beyond its operating budget.

STAY CONNECTED
Fans can receive updates by following @UHCougarWGolf on Twitter and catch up with the latest news and notes on the team by clicking LIKE on the team's Facebook page at UHCougarWGolf or on the team's Instagram page at UHCougarWGolf.

– UHCougars.com –