May 01, 2005
Texas A&M carded a final round of 307 on Sunday and finished fifth at the Big 12 Men's Golf Championships at Whispering Pines Golf Club.
No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State won its first Big 12 title since 2000 -- their fourth overall -- with a 285-296-287=868 total, finishing seven strokes ahead of runner-up Oklahoma (877). Missouri placed third (885A), followed by No. 19 Texas (903), A&M (303-299-307=909), Kansas (910), Baylor (912), No. 25 Texas Tech (918), Iowa State (921), Kansas State (925), Colorado (929) and Nebraska (931).
"It was a pretty disappointing day but it could have been worse," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "We finished the round strong for the first time in a while and I was pleased with that. Fifth place isn't bad in a strong conference like the Big 12, although we know we could have done much better. Now we need to regroup and get ready for regionals."
Oklahoma's Anthony Kim captured the individual crown by six shots with an eight-under-par total of 69-71-68=208. Oklahoma State's Alex Noren finished second at 70-72-72=214.
A&M junior Andrew Parr led the Aggies, tying for 11th with a 73-72-76=221 total, missing a spot on the all-tournament team by one stroke. Senior David Schultz tied for 22nd (76-77-75=228), freshman Robert Gates tied for 25th (77-73-79=229), and freshman Martin Piller (77-81-77=235) and junior Jerad Harklau (77-77-81=235) tied for 42nd.
The Aggies likely are to be invited to the NCAA Central Regional May 19-21 in South Bend, Ind. The top 10 teams from regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships May 31-June 3 in Baltimore, Md.