Women’s Golf Extends Lead at Big 12 Championship

Friday, April 24

Dallas Athletic Club – Dallas, Texas

University of Houston

Big 12 Championships

4/24/2026 5:13:00 PM | Women's Golf

Live Scoring Watch Final Round (11:30 am – Saturday) (ESPN+)Tee Times Dallas Athletic Club

Team stands at 4-under 572 entering Saturday’s Final Round; Senior Natalie Saint Germian tied for third with four Cougars among Top-13 leaders

DALLAS – For the second straight day, the University of Houston Women's Golf program fired a sub-par round to extend its lead following the Second Round of the Big 12 Championship presented by Allstate at Dallas Athletic Club on Friday afternoon.

A day after opening with a score of 285, the 36^th-ranked Cougars followed that with a Second Round of 1-under 285 on the 6,270-yard, par-72 layout to grab a 4-stroke advantage over #15 UCF entering Saturday's Final Round.

It marked only the second time in program history that the Cougars opened a Conference Championships with consecutive team sub-par scores and the first time since the 2018-19 team posted three straight rounds under par at the American Athletic Conference Championships on the Conservatory Course at Hammock Beach Resort & Golf Club in Palm Coast, Fla,, on April 16-17, 2019.

Four Cougars – senior Natalie Saint Germain, junior Maelynn Kim, senior Moa Svedenskiöld and senior Alexa Saldaña shot 73 or lower on Friday – to stand among the Top-13 leaders through 36 holes.

Saint Germain sank three birdies in her Second Round, including consecutive efforts to start her second nine, and finished with an even-par round to tie with UCF's Pimpisa Sisutham for third at 3-under 141.

Junior Maelynn Kim posted the team's low round of the day with a 2-under 70 and surged into a tie for fifth at 2-under 142. Starting off No. 1, the Houston native moved into red numbers with a birdie on the par-5 third hole and added back-to-back birdies at Nos. 10-11 to start her second nine.

Kim ran into trouble with three birdies in a four-hole stretch at Nos. 12-15 but rallied to sink birdies on two of her final three holes to join Nichakorn Pinprayoon (Iowa State), Marta Silchenko (Oklahoma State) and Kirstin Angosta (TCU) in a tie for fifth.

Competing in her fourth straight Conference Championships, senior Moa Svedenskiöld posted a 72 Friday and was tied for 11^th at 144. Fellow senior Alexa Saldaña enjoyed an even-par round as well and was tied for 13^th at 145 while sophomore Emilia Väistö – who was making her inaugural Conference Championships appearance with the Cougars after transferring last summer – was tied for 44^th at 152.

#25 Iowa State (578), #22 Arizona State (581), #21 Oklahoma State (583), Texas Tech (587), #41 TCU (588), #26 Baylor (591), #37 Kansas (592) and BYU (599) rounded out the Top 10 teams,

Oklahoma State's Ellie Bushnell and Arizona State's Patience Rhodes were tied atop the individual leaderboard at 4-under 140. Mila Jurine (UCF) and Pimpisa Rubrong (Arizona State) were tied for ninth at 143 while Baylor's Bridge Boczar joined Svedenskiöld in a tie for 11^th at 144.

The tournament concludes with the Final Round teeing off Saturday morning.

LIVE SCORING
Fans can follow live scoring at the Big 12 Championship presented by Allstate by clicking here.

TUNE IN
Fans can watch coverage from the Final Round from the Big 12 Championship presented by Allstate on ESPN+ beginning at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, with John Liddle (pxp) and Lauren Withrow (analyst).

TEE TIMES
For Saturday's Final Round, the Cougars will compete in groups with student-athletes from UCF and Iowa State beginning at 9:40 a.m.

Väistö begins the day off No. 1 at 9:40 a.m. with Saldaña (9:50 a.m.), Svedenskiold(10 a.m.), Kim (10:10 a.m.) and Saint Germain (10:20 a.m.) following.

Fans can find complete Big 12 Championship presented by Allstate tee times and pairings by clicking here.

UP NEXT
Following the Big 12 Championship, the Cougars will learn their postseason fate during the NCAA Selection Show at 4 p.m. (CDT), Wednesday, April 29, on Golf Channel.

Houston has been represented in NCAA Regional play every season except the first in program history in 2013-14 when NCAA regulations would not allow it. The Cougars have been selected as a team at NCAA Regionals in each of the last three years and nine of the last 10 seasons.

From there, the Cougars will enter the NCAA postseason on May 11-13 at one of six venues across the nation. Those sites include University of Michigan Golf Course (Ann Arbor, Mich.); UNC Finley Golf Course (Chapel Hill, N.C.); Robert Jones Golf Trail at Hampton Cove (Huntsville, Ala.); Stanford Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.,); Seminole Legacy Golf Club (Tallahassee, Fla.) and Ridgewood Country Club (Waco, Texas).

The Top-Five teams from each NCAA Regional advance to play at the NCAA Championships, set for May 22-27 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 providing NIL opportunities 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 X 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 –