May 19, 2006
Texas A&M freshman Bronson Burgoon fired an even-par 71 on Friday in rainy conditions as the Aggies remained in third place after two rounds of the NCAA Men's Golf Central Regional at Sand Ridge Golf Club. The final round is scheduled for Saturday.
The top 10 teams and two individuals will advance to the NCAA Championships May 31-June 3 at the Crosswater Golf Club in Sunriver, Ore.
Second-ranked Oklahoma State (565) posted the low round for the second consecutive day to take a commanding nine-stroke lead over second-place Northwestern (574). A&M is one stroke behind the Wildcats with a 284-291=575 total.
"The conditions were just brutal today, but the guys played really hard and gave a great effort under very difficult circumstances," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "It was cold and wet and it got worse as the day went on. They kept battling and put up a decent score."
The Aggies will tee off at 7 a.m. on Saturday and will be grouped with Oklahoma State and Northwestern.
"We're looking forward to the final round to see if we can make up some ground on the leaders and bring home a regional championship," Higgins said.
Oklahoma State's Zack Robinson is the individual leader with a five-under 71-66=137 total. Oklahoma State's teammate Jonathan Moore is one shot back at 69-69=138. Burgoon (68-71=139) and Lamar's Dawie Van der Walt (70-69=139) are tied for third at three-under.
A&M senior Andrew Parr is tied for eighth (68-74=142), while sophomore Bobby Gates is tied for 21st (74-72=146), senior Jerad Harklau is tied for 49th (75-74=149) and sophomore Martin Piller is tied for 59th (74-76=150).
Lamar is in fourth place in the team standings with a 581 total, followed by Minnesota (583), Georgia Tech (583), Duke (587), Oklahoma (590), TCU (590), Clemson (590), Texas (592), Tulsa (592), Kentucky (593), Purdue (594), SMU (595), Texas-Arlington (605), Missouri (605), Kent State (606), Siena (606), Xavier (610), Colorado (611), Kansas State (613), Nebraska (624), Eastern Kentucky (627), St. Francis (Pa.) (628), Cleveland State (633) and Princeton (635).