Arkansas finishes 2-under par at second day of SEC Championship

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Sophomore Kaylee Benton’s 2-under round paired with even par rounds from Alana Uriell and Summar Roachell kept Arkansas in the hunt after day two at the 2017 Southeastern Conference Championship on Saturday.

The three-day event wraps up on Sunday with Arkansas in third place, just six shots behind leader No. 8 Florida and one back of No. 6 Georgia who is in second place.

Arkansas was one of four teams who shot under par in round two posting a 287 on Saturday for 570 (283–287) overall. Florida moved up two spots and leads the field with 284–280—564.

Uriell leads Arkansas and is tied for fifth-place overall in the 70-player field. The Carlsbad, California, native is in the clubhouse shooting 68–72—140. A top-10 finish would be the best of Uriell’s career at this event.

Uriell’s scorecard featured 10 consecutive holes with a par score before she birdied the 11th hole. She remained one-under until the 16th hole, which she bogeyed, moving back to even on the day.

Benton posted her 10th par-or-better round shooting a 2-under 70 for the Razorbacks. She is tied for 11th place with senior Roachell. The duo are each counting 143 for the Razorbacks after two rounds.

Benton played the front nine even and picked up birdies on No. 10 and No. 16 to finish with a 70. Benton, Roachell and Cara Gorlei all birdied the 10th hole.

Sophomore Gorlei is tied for 20th overall shooting 71–73—144 and sophomore Maria Fassi rounds out the Razorback scores. Fassi is tied for 55th with 73-79—152.

Fassi had a run on the back nine with four birdies over a six-hole stretch leading Arkansas to 30 birdies in two rounds.

From Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor

“I feel like today was a little tougher as far as the hole locations. It was a little trickier out there. There were a couple of different tee boxes with some different hole locations but overall I think we did a really good job. It just wasn’t as easy. I thought they fought really hard. Yesterday we made a lot of putts and today we probably hit more greens and didn’t quite get as many putts to fall. We are in a wonderful position going into the final round.”

Notes
• Arkansas’ round one 5-under 283 was the team’s best round in the five-year history of the SEC Championship at Greystone
• The 283 was the first time since 2010 that Arkansas posted an under-par round at the SEC Championship
• The Razorbacks’ back-to-back under par rounds is a program-first at the SEC Championship

Razorback Lineup

T5-Alana Uriell — 68-72-140 (-4)
T11-Kaylee Benton — 73-70-143 (-1)
T11-Summar Roachell — 71-72-143 (-1)
T20-Cara Gorlei — 71-73-144 (E)
T55-Maria Fassi — 73-79-152 (+8)

SEC Team Leaderboard

1. Florida — 284-280 — 564 (-12)
2. Georgia — 287-282 — 569 (-7)
3. Arkansas -283-287 — 570 (-6)
4. Texas A&M — 282-290 — 572 (-4)
5. Tennessee — 287-286 — 573 (-3)
6. South Carolina — 286-290 — 576 (E)
7. Alabama — 295-285 — 580 (+4)
8. LSU — 294-292 — 586 (+13)
9. Kentucky — 291-296 — 587 (+11)
10. Vanderbilt — 287-302 — 589 (+13)
11. Ole Miss — 296-295 — 591 (+15)
12. Mississippi State — 295-300-595 (+19)
T13. Missouri — 302-295 — 597 (+21)
T13. Auburn — 300-297-597 (+21)