Indiana's Maddie May sets tournament record in opening round of Golfweek Hoosier Amateur
No one in the history of the Golfweek Hoosier Amateur has shot a better round than Maddie May did Tuesday.
The rising redshirt junior at Indiana got off to a blazing start at the 5th annual edition of the Hoosier Amateur, carding a 4-under 67 on Tuesday in the opening round, setting a new tournament scoring record by two shots. She becomes the fourth player in the history of the Hoosier Amateur to break par at the Pfau Course, joining Erica Shepherd (2020, 69), Madison Dabagia (2024, 70) and Rachel Camp (2024, 70).
"This is my third time playing the tournament, so I've always enjoyed coming back here and playing the Pfau in tournament conditions before we start the season up," May said. "I just drove the ball really well today, which helps a lot around the Pfau, and keeping it out of trouble.
"I just gave myself birdie opportunities on a lot of holes and was able to convert a lot on the front nine, which was really good."
May's round was the best of the opening round by five strokes. Nicole Johnson and Catherine Qui share second after 72s.
She started with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-4 and added another at the par-5 ninth to turn in 32. On the back nine, she had a birdie and bogey offset, matched with seven pars, and it equaled a stellar opening performance.
"That's just been my goal over the summer is just try to enjoy golf, take some pressure off the outcomes," May said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Maddie May stays present for Hoosier Women's Am win on adopted home course
With experience, Maddie May has found the kind of headspace that can produce a title-saving mid-round rally. Over 54 holes at the Hoosier Women's Amateur, May, who will be a redshirt senior at Indiana University this fall, built a five-shot lead with a record opening round, watched it dwindle, then pulled away for a nine-shot victory on what she now considers her home golf course, the Pfau Course. That kind of calm is truly learned. 'I definitely have learned that,' she said. 'There's been a couple tournaments – you go through it where you have those buffers or you have those leads, I've lost them plenty of times. I think you just learn that all you can control is yourself.' May hails from Christchurch, New Zealand, and first competed in the U.S. when she was 13 years old. She would annually travel to San Diego for the Junior World Championships and signed with Ole Miss in 2021. She joined that roster in the spring of 2022 but transferred to Indiana for the 2023-24 season. May now benefits from a home track in Bloomington, Indiana, that sharpens every tool in the bag. 'Around the Pfau, anything can happen,' May said after her victory. Truly. Her week began with a tournament - and personal (Pfau) - record 67 that included four birdies on the front nine. She lost ground with a 40 on the front nine the next day but held her five-stroke lead with a 2-under effort on the back nine. 'Keeping to my game plan and being able to stay in the present moment and hit shot by shot on that back nine really helped me to pull myself back into it and post a score that gave me that buffer heading into today,' she said. A final-round 74 left May with a nine-shot victory over Nicole Johnson of Edwardsville, Illinois. May felt so at peace at the start of the week that even her caddie, a friend who used to work at the Pfau Course, noticed. It led to the 67 that ultimately set her up for the victory. 'I was talking to my caddie on the first hole and I was just like, I feel this overwhelming sense of calmness today. And he was like, you look really calm,' she said. 'I think that I was just able to do what I was doing, just within that rhythm, and I never really lost touch with that rhythm.' This is the third year she has competed in the Hoosier Women's Amateur, with previous finishes of T-7 in 2024 and sixth in 2023. She has grown close to many Pfau regulars, and by the 13th hole, a growing number of locals and golf course staff had joined her gallery to watch her close out a win. Instead of returning home to New Zealand this summer (it would be winter there anyway, she noted), May remained in Bloomington to work on her game at the Hoosiers' facility and knock out a few more credits to make her upcoming season a bit more manageable. She is an accounting major, which follows in the footsteps of her parents Tim, the CFO of the Christchurch Airport, and Paula, a retired accountant. Paula was just in Bloomington a week ago, but before her daughter's Hoosier Women's Amateur victory, she headed a little farther west to visit Maddie's older brother Zach, a senior on the golf team at Iowa State. Maddie's younger brother Sebastian is a sophomore on the Sam Houston State golf team. In June, Maddie May won the Indiana Women's Open Championship. She tied for ninth at the Indiana Women's Amateur last month. Still, it wasn't an easy past year for May as she finished in the top 10 only one time in 10 starts with her Indiana team. She finished outside the top 50 six times. May credits her family, particularly Zach, for pulling her out of the slump. With a season of college golf left, May hasn't completely ruled out professional golf as a career, 'as long as I can stay enjoying the game and really playing because I enjoy it.' May has a road map, or at least a fair bit of inspiration, in fellow New Zealander Lydia Ko. When May was 9 years old, she competed in a Play with the Pros event and was paired with Ko for nine holes. That was in February 2013, a week before Ko, at 15 years old, won the New Zealand Open. May remembers being in shock most of the day, so much so that she can't remember a lot of details about the round. 'Just watching her success is really cool for all us girls who come out of New Zealand because it's such a small country,' May said. But if May doesn't choose Ko's route? There's always big-city life here in the U.S., where May would love to remain and work in a Big Four accounting firm. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Maddie May stays present for Hoosier Women's Am win on home course
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Maddie May stays present for Hoosier Women's Am win on adopted home course
With experience, Maddie May has found the kind of headspace that can produce a title-saving mid-round rally. Over 54 holes at the Hoosier Women's Amateur, May, who will be a redshirt senior at Indiana University this fall, built a five-shot lead with a record opening round, watched it dwindle, then pulled away for a nine-shot victory on what she now considers her home golf course, the Pfau Course. That kind of calm is truly learned. 'I definitely have learned that,' she said. 'There's been a couple tournaments – you go through it where you have those buffers or you have those leads, I've lost them plenty of times. I think you just learn that all you can control is yourself.' May hails from Christchurch, New Zealand, and first competed in the U.S. when she was 13 years old. She would annually travel to San Diego for the Junior World Championships and signed with Ole Miss in 2021. She joined that roster in the spring of 2022 but transferred to Indiana for the 2023-24 season. May now benefits from a home track in Bloomington, Indiana, that sharpens every tool in the bag. 'Around the Pfau, anything can happen,' May said after her victory. Truly. Her week began with a tournament - and personal (Pfau) - record 67 that included four birdies on the front nine. She lost ground with a 40 on the front nine the next day but held her five-stroke lead with a 2-under effort on the back nine. 'Keeping to my game plan and being able to stay in the present moment and hit shot by shot on that back nine really helped me to pull myself back into it and post a score that gave me that buffer heading into today,' she said. A final-round 74 left May with a nine-shot victory over Nicole Johnson of Edwardsville, Illinois. May felt so at peace at the start of the week that even her caddie, a friend who used to work at the Pfau Course, noticed. It led to the 67 that ultimately set her up for the victory. 'I was talking to my caddie on the first hole and I was just like, I feel this overwhelming sense of calmness today. And he was like, you look really calm,' she said. 'I think that I was just able to do what I was doing, just within that rhythm, and I never really lost touch with that rhythm.' This is the third year she has competed in the Hoosier Women's Amateur, with previous finishes of T-7 in 2024 and sixth in 2023. She has grown close to many Pfau regulars, and by the 13th hole, a growing number of locals and golf course staff had joined her gallery to watch her close out a win. Instead of returning home to New Zealand this summer (it would be winter there anyway, she noted), May remained in Bloomington to work on her game at the Hoosiers' facility and knock out a few more credits to make her upcoming season a bit more manageable. She is an accounting major, which follows in the footsteps of her parents Tim, the CFO of the Christchurch Airport, and Paula, a retired accountant. Paula was just in Bloomington a week ago, but before her daughter's Hoosier Women's Amateur victory, she headed a little farther west to visit Maddie's older brother Zach, a senior on the golf team at Iowa State. Maddie's younger brother Sebastian is a sophomore on the Sam Houston State golf team. In June, Maddie May won the Indiana Women's Open Championship. She tied for ninth at the Indiana Women's Amateur last month. Still, it wasn't an easy past year for May as she finished in the top 10 only one time in 10 starts with her Indiana team. She finished outside the top 50 six times. May credits her family, particularly Zach, for pulling her out of the slump. With a season of college golf left, May hasn't completely ruled out professional golf as a career, 'as long as I can stay enjoying the game and really playing because I enjoy it.' May has a road map, or at least a fair bit of inspiration, in fellow New Zealander Lydia Ko. When May was 9 years old, she competed in a Play with the Pros event and was paired with Ko for nine holes. That was in February 2013, a week before Ko, at 15 years old, won the New Zealand Open. May remembers being in shock most of the day, so much so that she can't remember a lot of details about the round. 'Just watching her success is really cool for all us girls who come out of New Zealand because it's such a small country,' May said. But if May doesn't choose Ko's route? There's always big-city life here in the U.S., where May would love to remain and work in a Big Four accounting firm.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Sophie Cunningham offers murky update on Caitlin Clark's Fever return
The post Sophie Cunningham offers murky update on Caitlin Clark's Fever return appeared first on ClutchPoints. The Indiana Fever are handling adversity well during the 2025 WNBA season. Indiana has been thrown a few curveballs already this season, including a breakup with DeWanna Bonner and multiple injuries to superstar Caitlin Clark. The Fever are hopeful that Clark can return soon, but it is unclear when that will be. Fever guard Sophie Cunningham gave a murky update on when Caitlin Clark will return during a recent interview. 'Honestly no. It is her groin, but it's such like a weird injury,' Cunningham said on the Show Me Something podcast on Thursday when asked about Clark's return. 'She's not in pain all the time. But when you do hurt it you're out for another….So I think they're trying to be like extra cautious so she doesn't kind of have those little setbacks.' Clark has dealt with multiple injuries during the 2025 season. She is currently rehabbing a groin injury she suffered just before the WNBA All-Star break. Clark has missed a whopping 14 games out of Indiana's 27 games played so far this season. Fever doing their best without Caitlin Clark during 2025 WNBA season The Fever has played well without Clark in the lineup, thanks to the strong play of Cunningham. Indiana has also benefited from Aari McDonald stepping up as the team's starting point guard in Clark's absence. If the Fever continue winning games without Clark, they seem comfortable waiting as long as it takes for her to return. 'If we could continue to win without her. Of course we want her to play though. I want her to play. You know what I mean? But like, if we can be successful without her, give her a little bit more of a break, I think that's going to be good,' Cunningham concluded. Indiana has a record of 15-12 and is riding a three-game winning streak. They currently sit at third place in the Eastern Conference and sixth place in the WNBA standings. The Fever need to continue to stack wins during the second half of the regular season. Indiana knows they'll get a huge boost when Clark returns to the court, but they cannot let off the pressure now. Next up for the Fever is a road game in Dallas against the Wings on Friday night. Related: Fever's Sophie Cunningham isn't done with her verbal assault on WNBA refs Related: 3 Fever targets before 2025 WNBA trade deadline
