STILLWATER, Okla. “”mdash; In golf tournaments spanning four
rounds, the third round is referred to as “moving day,”
the round during which you get yourself in the best position for
the final round.Â
Unfortunately for the UCLA men’s golf team, it moved down
the leaderboard of the NCAA Championship with a disappointing
13-over par third round. The Bruins are tied for third place with
Florida at 35-over par, with only one round left at the brutally
difficult Karsten Creek Golf Club.
UCLA was among the leaders for most of the round, but took a
drastic turn for the worst on the 15th hole. Over the last
four holes, the Bruins combined to shoot nine-over par, an over-par
margin that was bettered by five teams on their full 18-hole
rounds.
“We had a bad stretch over the last four holes,”
head coach O.D. Vincent said. “We’re disappointed
to have let some teams get that far ahead of us.”
The Bruins find themselves 11 shots back entering the final
round, but are still optimistic that the challenge facing them is
surmountable.
“We’re going to need a great round and some help
from (Clemson and Oklahoma State) tomorrow,” junior Steve
Conway said. “On the last three or four holes, we
probably gave up eight or 10 shots. That can happen just as
easily tomorrow to any given team. The top four teams are
still in it.”
The Clemson Tigers showed why they were the No. 1 ranked team in
the country, playing outstanding golf to shoot one-under par on
Thursday, the only sub-par team round of the championship. The
Tigers moved to 24-over par and lead the championship by a single
stroke over Oklahoma State.
A bright spot for the Bruins was the resurgent play of Steve
Conway. Conway struck the ball crisply and putted his way to a
two-under 70 in the third round, UCLA’s best round of the
tournament. Conway is in a tie for 23rd going into
Friday’s round.
“The biggest difference for me today was my
putting,” Conway said. “This is definitely the best
putting round I’ve had for over a month.”
Junior Travis Johnson shot his third straight two-over 74,
leaving him at six-over par for the championship and tied for 17th
place.
“The humidity and the heat got to me a little bit,”
said Johnson of the Oklahoma weather. “I was a little
tired and felt dizzy on a couple of putts, and made bogeys on both
of the holes.”
Junior John Merrick, UCLA’s highest ranked player entering
Thursday’s round, was unable to escape Karsten Creek’s
wrath on the 10th and 16th holes, shooting seven-over par on those
two respective holes. Merrick played stellar golf for the rest
of the round, birdying the 18th hole to shoot a respectable
five-over 77, leaving him at eight-over par for the tournament and
in a tie with teammate Conway.Â
The Bruins will need to play the rounds of their lives tomorrow
to give themselves a decent chance of walking away with the
championship trophy. The first step to achieving that goal is
to stay within themselves and their abilities.
“We want to play 72 holes as hard as we can, and we
don’t want any regrets when we leave this place,”
Vincent said. “I think we’ll do the exact same
thing (tomorrow) that we’ve done for the first few
rounds. Things haven’t really gone our direction yet,
but we’re going to hang around, plug around, and see if they
do tomorrow.”