Despite a difficult start, the Illinois State womens golf team look to rebound in the final round of the Payne Stewart Memorial tournament in Springfield, Mo. The Redbirds shot a 325 and sit in sixth place, only 9 stokes behind tournament leader Northern Iowa. Head coach Ray Kralis feels that even though the Redbirds did not start as strong as they had hoped, they can use this experience to motivate them for the Missouri Valley conference tournament. We didnt have the statement round that we wanted to and didnt play a good as we are capable off, but we are by no means out of this competition, Kralis said. We just got a reality check today and we have to use this experience as a motivating factor in the weeks to come. Samantha Richdale led the Redbirds in scoring with a 77, leaving her in a tie for fourth place heading into the final round. Behind Richdale are teammates Ashlie Rose tied for 14th with an 81, Hilary Anderson tied for 27th with an 83, and Chelsea Bach is tied for 31st with an 84. Rounding out the line-up for the Birds is Katie Laehn tied for 49th with an 87 and Ashlee Johnson is in a tie for 62nd carding a 90. Northern Iowa is leading the tournament with a 316, and Bradley sits in second with a 318. In third is host SMS carding a 319, and tied for fourth is Eastern Illinois and SIU with a 320. Behind ISU is Wichita State with a 328, in eighth is Drury with a 328, in ninth is SMS Maroon with a 340 and Creighton with a 341 to round out the top ten of the 14 teams competing. Kralis is looking for the team to make a come back in tomorrows round. I am looking forward to a comeback in tomorrows round, we have to put today behind us, Kralis added. We must hold our heads up and play the type of golf we are capable of playing. The second and final round of the Payne Stewart Memorial begins Tuesday morning with a 9 a.m. shotgun start. ###
