April 24, 2000
No. 3-ranked Oklahoma State blistered the rugged Prairie Dunes Country Club golf course with a second-round 272 on Monday afternoon at the Big 12 Men?â„¢s Golf Championships, setting a tournament single-round record and taking a 10-stroke lead into Tuesday?â„¢s final round.
The Cowboys (287-272=559) lead defending champion No. 25 Kansas (287-282=569) by 10 shots, while No. 17-ranked Texas (286-286=572) is in third and No. 33 Texas A&M is in fourth (284-289=573). Tuesday?â„¢s final round will begin at 8 a.m. on the par-70, 6,637-yard layout.
Oklahoma State?â„¢s Charles Howell leads the individual standings by five strokes after firing rounds of 66-66=132. A&M sophomore Sean Gilliland is in second place at 70-67=137, while the rest of the field is another three strokes back.
The Aggies were led in the opening round by a pair of even-par 70s by Gilliland and freshman Dwayne Morley. The Aggies owned a one-stroke lead over Colorado (285), while Texas carded a 286 and Oklahoma State was at 287.
The Cowboys, which have won 47 of the last 53 conference tournaments in which they?â„¢ve played, could have been in real trouble if Howell not turned in a four-under-par 66 to take the individual lead after the morning round.
A&M freshman Matt Lindholm and sophomore Josh McCoy also played well in the first round, each with a 72, while senior Ty Cox carded a 76.
However, the Cowboys caught fire in the afternoon round, led by Howell?â„¢s second straight 66, Anders Hultman?â„¢s 67 and Edward Loar?â„¢s 68.
Gilliland carded a 36 on his opening nine of the final round, but found his putting stroke on the back nine, posting three birdies before carding an eagle 3 on the par-5 No. 7 hole (his 16th hole of the final round). Gilliland fired a 31 on his final nine, one stroke off the course record of 30.
"I?â„¢ve been tinkering with my swing and I really didn?â„¢t hit the ball all that well today," Gilliland said. "I was rolling the ball well on the greens all day long and it all came together on the last nine. It was a lot of fun. I want to enjoy being in contention. You can?â„¢t force anything out here. I really just want the team to do well."
Unfortunately for A&M, the rest of the Aggies played well but couldn?â„¢t manage Gilliland?â„¢s theatrics. Morley struggled much of the second round but closed with a birdie on the final hole for a 73, while Cox added a 74 and McCoy and Lindholm each posted 75s.
Going into Tuesday?â„¢s final round, Morley is tied for 10th place at 143, Lindholm and McCoy are tied for 23rd at 147 and Cox is tied for 39th with a 150 total.
"We were playing very well coming in on both rounds, but we finished poorly each time," A&M coach Bob Ellis said. "We played some great golf. The guys are disappointed with how we stand, but they can?â„¢t beat themselves up. We played very well with two freshmen and two sophomores in our lineup. It might be unrealistic for us to win now, but we have a chance to accomplish a lot as we prepare for regionals."
Much of the field took advantage of rare ideal weather conditions, which in the first three Big 12 Championships at Prairie Dunes consisted of cold, rain and high winds. Monday?â„¢s rounds were played under sunny skies, with temperatures reaching 73 degrees and the wind rarely reaching 10 miles per hour. But Tuesday?â„¢s forecast calls for rain and high winds.