Nov. 1, 2010
DALLAS - After posting two of the season's best rounds on Monday, the 16th-ranked Texas A&M men's golf team is in second place and in position to defend its championship at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate at Royal Oaks Country Club.
The Aggies carded a 279 in the first round, their second-best score of the year, then followed that with an even stronger 277. At 12-under (556) for the tournament, A&M is five shots back of 11th-ranked Iowa (551, -17) heading into Tuesday morning's third and final round.
"We gave a terrific effort today," head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Whether it was Jordan (Russell) birding his last five holes of the first round or John (Hurley) coming back strong in the afternoon to help us post a great team score, everyone chipped in. Because of that we're in a strong position heading into the final round."
No. 15 Arkansas (-4) is eight shots back of the Aggies in third place, followed by Penn State (-3), SMU (-3), No. 25 Texas Tech (-1), Oklahoma (+2), UNLV (+4), Baylor (+8), Lamar (+11), New Mexico (+14) and Long Beach State (+22).
Junior Jordan Russell and sophomore Case Cochran each carded 65s on the day--Russell in the first round and Cochran in the second--to pace a strong all-around effort by A&M.
Russell (65-70=135), who drained consecutive birdies on the final five holes of the first round, is in third place. He sits at 7-under, three shots back of the leader, the Hawkeyes' Vince India. Cochran (71-65=136) is one stroke back in a tie for fourth at 6-under.
Sophomore Cameron Peck sits in 23rd after a 1-over 143 (71-72), while junior Geoff Shaw carded a 2-over 144 (72-72) and is in 29th. Senior John Hurley rebounded nicely to shoot a second-round 70 and sits in 41st at 5-over.
While his scores did not count towards the team total, senior Conrad Shindler was the Aggies' best player on Monday. Playing as an individual, he turned in rounds of 68-66=134 to finish the day at 8-under and just two shots back of the lead.
"Jordan and Case were tremendous today," Higgins said. "They were fearless and left it all on the course. They really came through for us. Conrad also had an outstanding day and is in good position too. There's one more round left in our fall season and we intend on making it a good one. The final round belongs to the Aggies."
The Aggies are scheduled to tee off in Tuesday's final round beginning at approximately 9:40 a.m. (CT). A&M will start on Hole No. 1 and is paired with Iowa and Arkansas. Shindler will start his final round at 8:30 a.m. on the first hole as well.
For Aggie fans interested in attending, Royal Oaks is located just east of Central Expressway (US 75) on Greenville Avenue. The course sits south of LBJ Freeway (I-635) between Royal Lane and Meadow Road.
Fans can also follow the action through live scoring at Golfstat.com and aggieathletics.com. Updates will also be available on twitter at @AggieMensGolf.