June 02, 2006
Senior Andrew Parr fired a three-under-par 69 in cool, wet conditions on Friday to lead Texas A&M into a tie for 10th place going into the final round of the NCAA Men?â„¢s Golf Championships at the Sunriver Resort?â„¢s Crosswater Club.
The Aggies (291-283-296=870) are 13 strokes behind leader Washington (857). Oklahoma State (860), Wake Forest (860) and Arizona State (860) are tied for second, three shots off the pace. The 30-team field was cut to the top 15 teams following Friday?â„¢s round.
The Aggies are looking for their first top 10 finish since 1984, when they placed 10th. A&M?â„¢s best finish was fourth in 1982.
?It rained really hard the first eight holes and the guys handled it very well,? A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. ?But when it cleared up, we let it kind of slip away from us. We had a great opportunity today but it didn?â„¢t work out as well as we would have liked. The good thing is that we?â„¢re still in contention.
?The lead is not insurmountable but it will be tough,? he added. ?It will take some great play by all of our guys. We?â„¢re going to go out there and try to win this thing and see how many teams we can beat.?
Parr?â„¢s tied for the best of the day and his 54-hole total of six-under 71-70-69=210 is a school record for NCAA Championships play. The previous mark was four-under (212) by Danny Briggs in 1982.
Parr is just three shots behind Oklahoma?â„¢s State?â„¢s Jonathan Moore, who leads the individual standings with a nine-under total of 68-70-69=207. Wake Forest?â„¢s Kyle Reifers is second (208) and Oklahoma State?â„¢s Pablo Martin is third (209).
The best individual finish in A&M history was eighth place by Briggs in 1982.
Parr birdied the fourth hole, then followed with a double bogey on the fifth to go to one over, but he bounced back to birdie the next four holes to make the turn in three-under. He parred out on the back nine. Parr is eight-under in his last 46 holes with only two holes over par.
?Andrew keeps playing better every day,? Higgins said. ?He was really impressive today. He made a double bogey but followed with four straight birdies. If he could have had a few more putts fall on the back nine, he could?â„¢ve taken it really deep.?
A&M senior Jerad Harklau (71-70-78=219) is tied for 50th, freshman Bronson Burgoon (74-72-74=220) is tied for 63rd, and sophomores Robert Gates (75-72-76=223) and Martin Piller (75-71-77=223) are tied for 92nd.
As a team, A&M recorded 14 birdies, 18 bogeys and five double-bogeys. The Aggies were six-over on the back nine, including three-over on the last two holes. For the tournament, A&M has had an impressive 47 birdies but has also had nine doubles.
Other teams advancing to the final round are Minnesota (865), Lamar (865), Clemson (866), Florida (867), Georgia (869), Arizona (870), UCLA (870), Kentucky (870), Duke (871) and BYU (874). BYU beat Coastal Carolina in a playoff for the final qualifying spot.
Also missing the cut were North Carolina (876), North Carolina State (877), UNLV (880), Auburn (880), East Tennessee State (885), Pepperdine (886), South Carolina (886), Charlotte (886), Northwestern (889), Georgia Tech (891), Texas Tech (892), Nevada (897), Oklahoma (903) and Loyola Marymount (915).