EUGENE, Ore. – Catapulted by a record-setting 54-output by Duke University freshman Virginia Elena Carta, the Blue Devil women's golf team jumped into a tie for second place at the NCAA Championship on its way to advancing to Monday's final round of stroke play 6,331-yard, par 72 Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

Carta, who hails from Udine, Italy, shattered the NCAA 54-hole record with rounds of 69, 68 and 66 for an incredible 13-under-par ledger of 203.  The previous mark was nine-under-par, 207, that was held by Grace Park of Arizona State (1998), Jennifer Rosales of Southern California (1998), Virada Nirapathpongporn of Duke (2002) and Annie Park of Southern California (2013).  

“I'm feeling really good,” said Carta.  “I actually didn't get it the first time they told me [about the record], but now that I know, it's awesome, but the next 18 holes are going to be tough. You never know how other players on the course are going to play. I'm excited. I'm pretty happy with my game.”

The Duke rookie holds a six-stroke lead heading into Monday's final day of action.  On her heels are Miami's Dewi Weber (209), Alabama's Cheyenne Knight (209) and Wake Forest's Jennifer Kupcho (209).

If Carta were to hold on, she would become the fourth Blue Devil to win the NCAA title – Candy Hannemann (2001), Nirapathpongporn (2002) and Anna Grzebien (2005).  The last NCAA champion for Duke was Grzebien, which took place in Sunriver, Ore., the same state of the 2016 championship.

With many cameras and media following Carta in the third round, she turned in a very impressive bogey-free round of 66.  She kicked off her day by sticking her approach shot to within inches for birdie and never looked back.  After just missing a birdie on No. 14, Carta stuck her iron shot to within a foot and moved to two-under for the day.  She hit her second shot on the par five 17th into the greenside bunker and was able to sink a six-foot birdie, after a great swing out of the bunker.  

“Going into today, honestly I was really, really relaxed,” said Carta.  “I was really focused on hitting fairways and greens.  Nothing special and then the score just came.”

Carta would get to 4-under after her fourth birdie on No. 1 and then grinded five straight pars.  She drained a birdie on the par-five seventh to move to 5-under-par.  Heading to No. 9, Carta laced a perfect drive down the middle of the fairway and then placed her next shot into the middle of the green.  She rolled in a 30-foot, left to right, up the ridge birdie to close the day with a six-under, 66.  It marked the third-lowest 18-hole score in NCAA Championship history for the Blue Devils.  

“I just think it is great,” commented Brooks on Carta breaking the 54-hole NCAA record.  “There have been a lot of great players to play in this tournament and for her to have a record as a freshman -- wow, very impressive.”

The only two scores that have been higher by Blue Devils were rounds of 65 by Grzebien (2005) and Jenny Chuasiriporn (1998).  For her third round, Carta hit 11 fairways, 15 greens and rolled a season-best 29 putts.  Her 16 birdies over the three days leads the field.

As a team, Duke shot a team-best eight-under-par, 280, for the third round to move into a tie for second along with UCLA at 862.  Southern California holds a two stroke lead over the Bruins and Blue Devils.  Duke's round of 280 was the lowest since the Blue Devils carded a 278 and 274 in the third and fourth rounds in Tulsa, Okla., to win their sixth NCAA Championship.  

“They showed a lot of poise out there, I guess is the word,” said Duke head coach Dan Brooks.  “They were real calm, they just played their game.  They were not panicked by that first day.  Yesterday they were solid and today the same thing. Just stayed real solid.”

The Blue Devils have made a very impressive run up the leaderboard, after starting the first round tied 21st overall.  Duke moved up 12 spots in Saturday's second round to tied ninth and then up seven spots to tied second after three days.  

“This is unbelievable, I am so proud of my team,” commented Carta on the team moving up the leaderboard.  “It is great that we are second.  I am here with the team and for the team so this means a lot.”

The top 15 teams advancing to Monday's final stroke play round include Southern California (860), UCLA (862), Duke (862), Washington (866), Stanford (868), Oregon (870), South Carolina (872), Virginia (873), Arizona (873), Northwestern (876), Oklahoma State (876), Arkansas (881), North Carolina (881), Alabama (882) and Florida State (883).  

For the second consecutive day, Duke featured three golfers in red numbers as Leona Maguire and Sandy Choi each finished with a one-under, 71.  Sophomore Gurbani Singh collected her best round of the spring season with an even-par, 72.  

A product of Cavan, Ireland, Maguire opened her day with a double-bogey after missing the fairway off the tee and ending up in the greenside trap.  It didn't bother the 2015 National Player of the Year as she came back to hit her tee shot on the 152-yard, par three 11th hole to seven feet for birdie.  Maguire closed her first nine holes with seven consecutive pars to make the turn at one-over, 36.  

After missing the green on No. 1, she suffered her only bogey of the day to fall back to two-over-par through 10 holes.  Maguire was excellent closing the day with a three-foot birdie on No. 4 and a six-foot birdie on No. 5 to get back to even par.  After hitting her approach on the sixth green into the trap, Maguire was able to get the sand save to remain at even par.  Maguire added her fourth birdie on the par five seventh and parred the final two holes to close the day with a 71.  She hit 14 greens, 10 fairways and had 29 putts.  Maguire has notched rounds of 72, 70 and 71 for a 213, which is tied 10th.  

Choi, who is from Seoul, South Korea, has played the last 36 holes at two-under-par and is now tied 45th with a 220.  She kick-started her morning with a great approach shot into the green on No. 10, which laid to rest just three feet from the cup, and sank the birdie.  Choi added a second birdie on No. 15 to move to two-under, before making the turn with a 34, after suffering a bogey on No. 9.  

She kicked it up a notch on the back nine as she sank a five-foot birdie on the 355-yard, par four second and then drained an up-hill putt on the fringe from 20 feet on the par five fourth.  Choi was three-under-par on the day, but suffered a bogey on the next hole, No. 5.  She made an excellent 12-foot par save on the eighth hole and closed with a bogey on No. 9 to finish with a 71.  Choi hit 10 greens, 13 fairways and a season-best 26 putts.  Her only fairway she missed was on her final hole, No. 9.  

After turning in her worst round of the season Monday, Singh has played the last 36 holes at two-over-par.  She kept strong Sunday, especially after carding two double-bogeys in the round.  Singh tied a season high with five birdies on the day.  

Singh was one-under through five holes, following a 12-foot birdie from the fringe on No. 12.  She suffered her first double-bogey on No. 15, but came back to drain a 15-foot birdie on No. 16 to get back to even for the day.  Singh added her only bogey of the round on No. 18 and then had a double-bogey on No. 1 to fall to three-over.  She battled back to play the final eight holes at three-under-par to finish with an even-par, 72.  

“Real excited for Gurbani,” said Brooks.  “She is a talented kid.  She made a couple of adjustments in her setup and take away, that's all.”

During the three-under stretch, Singh kicked off her birdie string with a very impressive result.  She hit a six-iron out of the rough from 155 yards to within 12 feet and sank the putt.  Singh also netted a birdie on No. 4, a key up-and-down par on No. 6 and closed with a 16-foot birdie on the final hole. She hit 13 greens, 11 fairways and had 30 putts for her round.  

Senior Celine Boutier struggled Sunday on her way to shooting a career-worst round of 84.  

Duke will open the fourth round beginning at 1:10 p.m., off hole No. 1 along with Southern California and UCLA.  Following Monday's final day of stroke play, the top eight teams will advance to match play.  

“Tomorrow we are just going to have to keep this going,” said Choi.  “We have definitely come back from the first day so I am very happy for the team.  Tomorrow is the last stroke play round so hopefully we get the top seed.”

Don't miss the live coverage from the Golf Channel Monday, May 23 from 7-10 p.m. (ET).  

#GoDuke


Duke Results
3 1 Virginia Elena Carta Duke 69 68 66 203 -13
T10 T10 Leona Maguire Duke 72 70 71 213 -3
T80 T45 Sandy Choi Duke 78 71 71 220 +4
T125 T106 Gurbani Singh Duke 83 74 72 229 +13
T125 132 Celine Boutier Duke 80 77 84 241 +25

1 2 3 Team Scores
T3 1 1 Southern California 289 280 291 860 -4
2 3 T2 UCLA 286 291 285 862 -2
T21 T9 T2 Duke 299 283 280 862 -2
T3 2 4 Washington 289 285 292 866 +2
T12 4 5 Stanford 295 283 290 868 +4
T15 T5 6 Oregon 297 282 291 870 +6
T8 T9 7 South Carolina 293 289 290 872 +8
T8 15 T8 Virginia 293 294 286 873 +9
5 7 T8 Arizona 291 289 293 873 +9
T6 8 T10 Northwestern 292 289 295 876 +12
1 T5 T10 Oklahoma State 284 295 297 876 +12
T6 12 T12 Arkansas 292 291 298 881 +17
T18 T17 T12 North Carolina 298 292 291 881 +17
23 21 14 Alabama 300 292 290 882 +18
T12 13 15 Florida State 295 290 298 883 +19
T15 T9 16 Tennessee 297 285 303 885 +21
T15 T17 17 Florida 297 293 296 886 +22
14 T22 T18 Michigan 296 299 292 887 +23
T18 16 T18 Georgia 298 291 298 887 +23
T18 T22 20 Furman 298 297 293 888 +24
T21 T19 21 Miami 299 292 299 890 +26
T8 14 22 Ohio State 293 293 306 892 +28
24 T19 23 Texas 301 290 306 897 +33
11 24 24 Brigham Young 294 306 298 898 +34

Start Finish Player Team Scores
3 1 Virginia Elena Carta Duke 69 68 66 203 -13
T10 T2 Jennifer Kupcho * Wake Forest 69 73 67 209 -7
1 T2 Dewi Weber Miami 69 66 74 209 -7
T4 T2 Cheyenne Knight Alabama 69 69 71 209 -7
T4 T5 Caroline Inglis Oregon 73 65 73 211 -5
2 T5 Anna Newell Tennessee 69 67 75 211 -5
T4 T7 Haley Moore Arizona 68 70 74 212 -4
T19 T7 Bronte Law UCLA 71 72 69 212 -4
T26 T7 Lauren Coughlin Virginia 72 72 68 212 -4
T10 T10 Katelyn Dambaugh South Carolina 69 73 71 213 -3
T10 T10 Leona Maguire Duke 72 70 71 213 -3
T26 T12 Linnea Johansson Oklahoma State 73 71 71 215 -1
T8 T12 Casey Danielson Stanford 71 70 74 215 -1
T10 T12 Louise Ridderstrom UCLA 69 73 73 215 -1
T38 T15 Hannah Kim Northwestern 74 72 70 216 E
T10 T15 Stephanie Lau Northwestern 71 71 74 216 E
T19 T15 August Kim * Purdue 68 75 73 216 E
T54 T15 Wenyung Keh Washington 73 74 69 216 E
T33 T15 Lilia Vu UCLA 73 72 71 216 E
T10 T15 Tiffany Chan Southern California 71 71 74 216 E
T19 T15 Julianne Alvarez Washington 71 72 73 216 E
T10 T15 Karen Chung Southern California 73 69 74 216 E
T4 T15 Rio Watanabe Ohio State 70 68 78 216 E
T26 T24 Ainhoa Olarra South Carolina 73 71 73 217 +1
T10 T24 Cathleen Santoso Oregon 72 70 75 217 +1
T67 T24 Taylor Totland Furman 76 72 69 217 +1
T67 T27 Mariah Stackhouse Stanford 79 69 70 218 +2
T38 T27 Sarah Schmelzel South Carolina 75 71 72 218 +2
T38 T27 Shannon Aubert Stanford 74 72 72 218 +2
T19 T27 Laura Lonardi * Baylor 71 72 75 218 +2
T8 T27 Kyung Kim Southern California 71 70 77 218 +2
T19 T27 Ying Luo Washington 75 68 75 218 +2
T26 T27 Alana Uriell Arkansas 70 74 74 218 +2
T85 T27 Lexi Harkins North Carolina 76 74 68 218 +2
T38 T27 Elizabeth Mallett North Carolina 75 71 72 218 +2
T10 T27 Morgane Metraux Florida State 70 72 76 218 +2
T38 T27 Kelly Grassel Florida 74 72 72 218 +2
T94 T27 Andrea Wong * UC Davis 77 74 67 218 +2
T67 T27 Kendra Dalton Brigham Young 72 76 70 218 +2
T33 T27 Sophia Schubert Texas 76 69 73 218 +2
T67 T41 Lindsey Weaver Arizona 74 74 71 219 +3
T54 T41 Bethany Wu UCLA 73 74 72 219 +3
T33 T41 Elizabeth Szokol Virginia 75 70 74 219 +3
T38 T41 Grace Choi Michigan 70 76 73 219 +3
T54 T45 Chih-Min Chen Oklahoma State 69 78 73 220 +4
T67 T45 Petra Salko Oregon 74 74 72 220 +4
T38 T45 Kenzie Neisen Oklahoma State 71 75 74 220 +4
T38 T45 Lauren Kim Stanford 74 72 74 220 +4
T38 T45 Sarah Burnham * Michigan State 75 71 74 220 +4
T67 T45 Robynn Ree Southern California 78 70 72 220 +4
T80 T45 Sandy Choi Duke 78 71 71 220 +4
T26 T45 Cara Gorlei Arkansas 73 71 76 220 +4
T54 T45 Harang Lee Georgia 73 74 73 220 +4
T54 T45 Linnea Strom * Arizona State 72 75 73 220 +4
T67 T45 Olivia Cason * Louisville 70 78 72 220 +4
T38 T45 Megan Kim Michigan 72 74 74 220 +4
T26 T45 Alex White Brigham Young 70 74 76 220 +4
T38 T58 Janet Mao Northwestern 73 73 75 221 +5
T19 T58 Marianne Li * California 70 73 78 221 +5
T38 T58 Lauren Stephenson * Clemson 75 71 75 221 +5
T85 T58 Gabriella Then Southern California 74 76 71 221 +5
T38 T58 Charlotte Thomas Washington 75 71 75 221 +5
T85 T58 Maria Fassi Arkansas 78 72 71 221 +5
T54 T58 Blakesly Warren Tennessee 77 70 74 221 +5
T94 T58 Lauren Diaz-Yi Virginia 74 77 70 221 +5
T80 T58 Bailey Tardy Georgia 77 72 72 221 +5
T67 T58 Matilda Castren Florida State 75 73 73 221 +5
T38 T58 Jillian Hollis Georgia 74 72 75 221 +5
T67 T58 Haylee Harford Furman 71 77 73 221 +5
T54 T70 Krystal Quihuis Arizona 73 74 75 222 +6
T19 T70 Maddie McCrary Oklahoma State 72 71 79 222 +6
T85 T70 Leslie Cloots North Carolina 74 76 72 222 +6
T67 T70 Anna Redding Virginia 73 75 74 222 +6
T38 T70 Taylor Tomlinson Florida 71 75 76 222 +6
T109 T70 Elodie Van Dievoet Michigan 77 76 69 222 +6
T54 T76 Kacie Komoto Northwestern 74 73 76 223 +7
T85 T76 Jessica Vasilic Arizona 76 74 73 223 +7
T67 T76 Maria Torres Florida 73 75 75 223 +7
T101 T76 Kailey Walsh Miami 76 76 71 223 +7
T85 T76 Emma Talley Alabama 77 73 73 223 +7
T54 T81 Sarah Cho Northwestern 74 73 77 224 +8
T85 T81 Lydia Gumm Florida State 75 75 74 224 +8
T94 T81 Jessica Porvasnik Ohio State 77 74 73 224 +8
T67 T81 Katja Pogacar Ohio State 73 75 76 224 +8
T33 T81 Kayla Jones Florida State 75 70 79 224 +8
T54 T81 Leonie Harm * Houston 75 72 77 224 +8
T101 T81 Janie Jackson Alabama 76 76 72 224 +8
T80 T81 Haley Mills Texas 72 77 75 224 +8
T38 T81 Julia Beck Texas 76 70 78 224 +8
T54 T90 Regina Plasencia Arkansas 73 74 78 225 +9
T67 T90 Hannah Pietila Tennessee 75 73 77 225 +9
T101 T90 Karolina Vlckova Florida 79 73 73 225 +9
T54 T90 Rinko Mitsunaga Georgia 74 73 78 225 +9
T26 T90 Kelly Whaley North Carolina 73 71 81 225 +9
T80 T90 Alice Chen Furman 75 74 76 225 +9
T94 T96 Morgan Gonzales Virginia 74 77 75 226 +10
T54 T96 Elise Bradley * LSU 72 75 79 226 +10
T85 T96 Catherine Peters Michigan 77 73 76 226 +10
T101 T96 Lakareber Abe Alabama 78 74 74 226 +10
T101 T100 Sierra Kersten Stanford 76 76 75 227 +11
T120 T100 Kathleen Scavo Oregon 78 78 71 227 +11
T33 T100 Sarah Rhee Washington 70 75 82 227 +11
T101 T100 Jacqueline Bendrick Furman 76 76 75 227 +11
T94 T100 Valentina Romero Furman 76 75 76 227 +11
T80 T100 Daniela Darquea Miami 76 73 78 227 +11
T114 T106 Marcella Pranovia Oregon 81 73 75 229 +13
T125 T106 Gurbani Singh Duke 83 74 72 229 +13
T101 T106 Samantha Wagner Florida 79 73 77 229 +13
T120 T106 Lea Garner Brigham Young 77 79 73 229 +13
T94 T110 Emma Broze Oklahoma State 72 79 79 230 +14
T118 T110 Kim Metraux Florida State 79 76 75 230 +14
T94 T110 Nikilotte Schroeder Ohio State 75 76 79 230 +14
T125 T113 Marion Veysseyre South Carolina 78 79 74 231 +15
T85 T113 Isi Nilsson South Carolina 76 74 81 231 +15
T114 T113 Summar Roachell Arkansas 76 78 77 231 +15
T101 T113 Jaclyn Lee Ohio State 75 77 79 231 +15
T120 117 Delfina Acosta Miami 78 78 76 232 +16
T120 T118 Shannon Brooks Tennessee 76 80 77 233 +17
T114 T118 Hadas Libman UCLA 78 76 79 233 +17
T114 T120 Maddie Luitwieler Texas 79 75 80 234 +18
T109 T120 Natalie Karcher Texas 77 76 81 234 +18
T109 T120 Brooklyn Hocker Brigham Young 75 78 81 234 +18
T109 T123 Gigi Stoll Arizona 82 71 82 235 +19
T109 T123 Lucia Polo Tennessee 78 75 82 235 +19
T120 T123 Bryana Nguyen North Carolina 76 80 79 235 +19
T118 T123 Luiza Altmann Miami 78 77 80 235 +19
132 127 Emily White Michigan 82 78 77 237 +21
T125 T128 Bianca Pagdanganan * Gonzaga 76 81 81 238 +22
T130 T128 Rose Huang Brigham Young 81 78 79 238 +22
T130 T128 Nicole Morales Alabama 78 81 79 238 +22
129 131 Mary Ellen Shuman Georgia 77 81 81 239 +23
T125 132 Celine Boutier Duke 80 77 84 241 +25