WILMETTE, Ill. - The Arizona State women's golf team finished three-under par through 36 holes on their first day of the Windy City Classic at Westmoreland Country Club.
The Sun Devils -- ranked No. 7 by Golfweek Magazine -- started early and would finish later in the afternoon, as the tournament is set up for 54 holes in just two days at the par-72, 6,291-yard course in the north suburbs of Chicago.
"I think we did a lot well today," said head coach Missy Farr-Kaye. "We had a lot more birdies and this team is starting to figure out how much they can really accomplish and they can do anything they put their minds to.
"The fact we played our second round nine shots better shows that the girls are learning to adjust to the golf course quickly. I think we're just scratching the surface of what we can be."
Farr-Kaye was anxious to see how her two freshmen -- Madison Kerley and Linnea Strom -- would continue to progress in their second collegiate tournament.
Both played tremendously, as Strom -- ranked by Golfweek as the No. 9 collegiate golfer in the country -- led the team with a combined five-under day. She currently sits tied for third in the tournament and paces the Devils by four strokes over junior Monica Vaughn. The freshman also finished the day with just one bogey and six birdies.
"Today, she looked exactly like the Linnea we know she can be," Farr-Kaye said. "She's starting to manage her yardage better and she's starting to just play golf with great course management."
Farr-Kaye recalled twice today her putting a shot into the water on the same par-5 yet coming away with par.
"She's just so calm and poised," Farr-Kaye said.
Kerley likely would have had back-to-back under par rounds if it weren't for a double-bogey on the 13th and a double-par on the 14th during her first round. It led to a four-over 76 through 18, but she bounced back with a four-under 68 in the afternoon to finish even for the day. The fact she finished with 11 birdies in 36 holes shows how close she was from being atop the leaderboard.
"Madison is a very resilient golfer," Farr-Kaye said. "Little unlucky today on one shot but she bounces back so quickly and attacks. She's a ton of fun to watch and I even told her today how much great she is to coach.
"She's going to surprise a lot of people."
Her teammate and veteran on the team, Vaughn, finished her two rounds one-under for a 143, and appeared to just be a few shots and puts from being several under par. She totaled five bogeys, one double-bogey and eight birdies.
Four of the top 10 teams ranked by Golfweek Magazine are participating in the tournament, with the other three directly in front of the Sun Devils -- No. 3 USC in 3rd at 10-under, No. 9 Oklahoma State in 4th at seven-under and No. 6 Arizona in 5th at five-under.
The final round tees off tomorrow morning at 8:15 a.m. CST. You can follow live scoring at Golfstat.com and on your mobile phone on the Golfstat app.