Kaitlyn Papp one of two Longhorns to advance to final round of Augusta National Women's Amateur 

Texas sophomore Kaitlyn Papp secured a spot in Saturday’s final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Augusta National Golf Club.

“I’m so excited. My main goal coming here was to make the cut,” she said. “At the turn I saw the leaderboard and I knew I was in a good position to make the cut, so I just tried to focus on doing the best I can to get closer to the lead.”

A 3-under par 69 lifted Papp into a tie for third after Thursday's second round at Champions Retreat Golf Club before the scence shifts to Augusta National.

She enters the final round two shots behind leader Jennifer Kupcho and one behind Maria Fassi.

After shooting even-par 72 in the first round, Papp started the second day on the back nine. Her early bogey on 11 was one of only two hiccups on the day. She birdied 15 and 16, thanks to the help of two long putts.

With birdies on 18 and 3, she reached 3 under for the day. A bogey on the sixth hole was later erased with a birdie on the par-3 eighth. Papp’s 69 was the second-lowest round in the tournament, behind 68s from Kupcho and Zoe Campos in the first round.

“Overall, I felt like I continued my good ball striking from yesterday. I think I dropped a few more putts today, which was really the main difference, and I just tried to improve on the mistakes from yesterday,” she said. “I made a couple long putts in my round today. Fifteen and 16, I drilled a couple long ones about 25-30 feet off the fringe. I feel like that really got my round going and continued the momentum on the back-nine.”

This won’t be Papp’s first experience at the Augusta National.

“About a month ago, me and my two teammates from UT made a practice trip out here. We played Champions Retreat and then we got on Augusta National. It’s really amazing," she said. "In addition to that, my instructor, Chuck Cook, sat down with a couple of us girls and shared his knowledge about the course and where and where not to hit the ball.”

Agathe Laisne, a sophomore from Paris, finished at 3 over. In an 11-way tie for 21st, she made the cut after a playoff for the final 10 spots in the final round.

Laisne entered the second round at even par and birdied No. 10 to begin the round. She then bogeyed 14, 16 and 1, pushing her to 2 over. She birdied 3 and 7 before bogeying the par-3 8th to post 75.

Emilee Hoffman missed the cut after a second-round 74, finishing at 5 over. She, along with the others who missed the cut, will participate in a practice round at Augusta National on Friday.