Texas A&M
NCAA Regional Championship
Hurley, Burgoon Lead Aggies into Third at NCAA Men's Golf West Regional
May 14, 2009 | Men's Golf
May 14, 2009
DALY CITY, Calif. - Sophomore John Hurley fired a five-under-par 67 on Thursday to lead No. 12-ranked Texas A&M into third place after the opening round of the NCAA Men's Golf West Regional at the Lake Merced Golf Club.
Senior Bronson Burgoon contributed a three-under 69 as the Aggies carded a team score of seven-under (281). No. 14 Arizona State (279) and New Mexico (280) lead A&M going into Friday's second round. The tournament concludes on Saturday with the top five teams advancing to the national finals May 26-30 in Toledo, Ohio.
Oregon is one stroke behind the Aggies in fourth place at 282, followed by No. 2 Southern California (285), No. 22 San Diego State (286), UC-Irvine (289), Colorado (291), San Francisco (291), Kansas State (294), UC-Davis (298) and Oregon State (300).
Hurley is tied for third individually, two strokes behind leader Matthew Giles of Southern California, who had a seven-under 65. Burgoon is tied for sixth, four shots off the pace.
"John played unbelievable," A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "He got off to a rough start but didn't let it faze him at all. He took advantage of his length on par fives and really carried us today. Bronson didn't play as well as he could have but was still solid with a 69. The other guys battled but they all know they can play better. I think we have our best golf ahead of us.""
A&M junior Andrea Pavan shot an even-par 72 and is tied for 20th, senior Matt Van Zandt carded a 73 and is tied for 37th, and sophomore Ignacio Elvira had a 75 and is tied for 53rd.
Hurley was two-over through five holes, then played the next 11 holes in seven-under. He finished bogey-birdie on the final two holes to tie for the school record for an NCAA regional. Sean Gilliland carded a 67 for A&M in the 2000 Central Regional. Hurley recorded an impressive eight birdies on the day.
Burgoon had six birdies in his round, including a pair on the final two holes. Pavan had four birdies and four bogeys.
Live scoring is available online at http://www.golfstat.com.
