OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Led by junior Cameron Champ's tournament-topping round, the Texas A&M men's golf team sits in second place after the first 18 holes of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational.
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The Aggies (280, E) are within six stokes of tournament-host No. 3 Illinois, and sit seven stokes clear of the third place Oklahoma State after the conclusion of play on Friday afternoon.
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Champ (65, -5) fired the low round of his collegiate career with an opening round 65, putting him all square at the top of the leaderboard alongside Bryan Baumgarten of Illinois. Champ shot an impressive 4-under during his first nine holes and concluded play with two consecutive birdies to bring him to 5-under.
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"Tremendous round by Cam today," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Five-under on this course is some really impressive golf with these rainy and windy championship conditions. Really challenging and he had a really disciplined game. You have to give it up to him."
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Aggie sophomore Chandler Phillips (69,-1) is tied for sixth on the 78-player leaderboard, carding his fourth consecutive round of par or better. Freshmen Viraj Madappa (71, +2), meanwhile, holds a tie for 16th in his second collegiate tournament and junior transfer Kavan Eubank (74, +4) sits in a tie for 23rd. Max Miller (79, +9) rounded out the Texas A&M lineup, holding a share of 69th place.
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"An amazing round today but we could not finish it off," said Higgins, "That's something we are going to have to keep getting better at it. The best teams in the country are here and we are hanging with them. In general, I was really impressed with our guys today and we'll see what we can do tomorrow."
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The team will tee off the second round at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday morning and be paired with Illinois and Oklahoma State. Live scoring for the final two rounds will be available at GolfStat.com. Stay tuned to 12thMan.com or follow the Aggies on Twitter (@AggieMensGolf).
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The Aggies (280, E) are within six stokes of tournament-host No. 3 Illinois, and sit seven stokes clear of the third place Oklahoma State after the conclusion of play on Friday afternoon.
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Champ (65, -5) fired the low round of his collegiate career with an opening round 65, putting him all square at the top of the leaderboard alongside Bryan Baumgarten of Illinois. Champ shot an impressive 4-under during his first nine holes and concluded play with two consecutive birdies to bring him to 5-under.
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"Tremendous round by Cam today," Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. "Five-under on this course is some really impressive golf with these rainy and windy championship conditions. Really challenging and he had a really disciplined game. You have to give it up to him."
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Aggie sophomore Chandler Phillips (69,-1) is tied for sixth on the 78-player leaderboard, carding his fourth consecutive round of par or better. Freshmen Viraj Madappa (71, +2), meanwhile, holds a tie for 16th in his second collegiate tournament and junior transfer Kavan Eubank (74, +4) sits in a tie for 23rd. Max Miller (79, +9) rounded out the Texas A&M lineup, holding a share of 69th place.
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"An amazing round today but we could not finish it off," said Higgins, "That's something we are going to have to keep getting better at it. The best teams in the country are here and we are hanging with them. In general, I was really impressed with our guys today and we'll see what we can do tomorrow."
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The team will tee off the second round at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday morning and be paired with Illinois and Oklahoma State. Live scoring for the final two rounds will be available at GolfStat.com. Stay tuned to 12thMan.com or follow the Aggies on Twitter (@AggieMensGolf).