Blue Devils Jump to Tied for Sixth After 36 Holes at NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif. – The Duke women’s golf team continued its solid play Saturday at the NCAA Championship as the ninth-seeded Blue Devils carded a 2-under-par, 286, to jump 10 spots up the leaderboard to a tie for sixth through 36 holes at the 6,271-yard, par-72 Omni La Costa Resort & Spa North Course in Carlsbad. 
 
Duke registered one of only seven under-par rounds Saturday as a team as the Blue Devils registered 18 birdies.  With a 36-hole score of 577, the Blue Devils are tied for sixth along with SMU, but Duke is only one stroke out of fourth. 
 
The Blue Devils were paced by freshman Rianne Malixi with a 3-under-par, 69, to move into a tie for 16th, individually, and graduate student Andie Smith with a 2-under, 70.  All five Duke golfers shot 75 or better in the second round. 
 
Following Sunday’s third round, the top 15 teams and the low nine individuals not on those teams advance to Monday’s final round of stroke play. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duke opened action Saturday morning at 7:25 a.m., local time off hole No. 1. 
• The Blue Devils were 5-under-par over the first five holes, but went through a stretch where Duke dropped six shots over holes 7-9.  Duke came back though with 10 birdies during holes 10-15 to jump back up the leaderboard.  The Blue Devils shot 5-under-par on those holes. 
• Rianne Malixi parred the first hole and then reeled off birdies on three consecutive holes.  She hit her 52-degree wedge from 85 yards on the 531-yard, par-5 second hole and then rolled in an 8-foot birdie on No. 3.  Malixi, a native of Manila, Philippines, then hit her 48-degree wedge from 110 yards on No. 4 for birdie to reach 3-under-par.  She played the next nine holes at 2-over-par to fall back to 1-under.  Malixi totaled her fourth birdie on the 374-yard, par-4 No. 14 as she hit her 7-iron from 139 yards to two feet and then rolled in another birdie on No. 15 as she sank a 15-foot birdie.  She hit the green in two on the final hole, but three-putted for par from a long distance to finish with a 69.  Malixi hit a team-best 16 greens, 13 fairways and had 31 putts.
• With a 2-under, 70, Saturday, Andie Smith moved 59 spots up the individual leaderboard into a tie for 27th.  She parred the first hole and then drained a 10-foot birdie on No. 2.  Smith, who is from Hobe Sound, Florida, played the next nine holes at 1-over-par with eight pars and one bogey.  She got hot over the next four holes with three birdies.  Smith hit her…