October 23, 2006
No. 9-ranked Texas A&M carded a 13-over-par 301 on Monday and is in 16th place after two rounds of the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational at Isleworth Country Club. The final round is Tuesday.
Unranked Texas leads with a 36-hole total of 579, followed by top-ranked Oklahoma State (580), No. 2 Florida (586), No. 5 Clemson (588), No. 23 Kentucky (590), No. 11 Duke (296), No. 22 Tennessee (591), No. 3 Georgia (591), No. 14 North Carolina (593), Florida State (594), Arizona (595), No. 8 Georgia Tech (595), South Carolina (596), No. 19 Wake Forest (598), A&M (298-301=599), Texas Tech (604) and host Central Florida (618).
The Aggies' Martin Piller is tied for sixth place in the individual standings with an even-par 70-74=144 total. Florida's Toby Ragland leads at four-under 69-71=140.
A&M's Trey Todd (73-77=150) is tied for 46th, Matt Van Zandt (78-75=153) and Robert Gates (78-75=153) are tied for 61st, and John Hurley (77-77=154) is tied for 70th.
Starting on the 10th hole, A&M played its opening nine holes in two-under-par, but the Aggies shot a whopping 15-over on the final nine.
"Obviously, we are really disappointed in our performance today," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "We played well on our front nine, which is the harder of the nines, but had a complete collapse by the entire team on back side. That's as poorly as we've played in a long time, but this team has lot pride and we'll go out tomorrow and try to make up some ground and have a decent showing."
A&M is playing without Bronson Burgoon, who is preparing for the first-stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School, which begins on Tuesday at Cypresswood Golf Club in Spring, Texas. Burgoon is competing as an amateur so he can retain his college eligibility should he not earn his tour card.