Wednesday, April 21
Saint Simons Island, Ga.
Texas A&M
at
SEC Championship
“Super” senior Dan Erickson keyed the Aggies' rally with a 1-under 69 in the third round.
Photo by: Steven Colquitt/UGAA
Furious Rally Sends Aggie Golf to SEC Match Play
Apr 23, 2021 | Men's Golf
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – A furious rally by the Texas A&M men's golf team resulted in the Aggies earning the final qualifying spot into the match play portion of the 2021 Southeastern Conference Championship Friday at the Seaside Course of Sea Island Golf Club.
Entering the day eight strokes out of the eighth and final qualifying spot, the Aggies fired a 3-under 277 to surge from 12th to eighth on the team leaderboard. A matchup with top-seed and No. 10-ranked Georgia awaits the No. 11 Aggies in the SEC Championships quarterfinals on Saturday. The Aggies and Bulldogs begin play at 6:30 a.m. CT.
Saturday's Matchup:
All times are Central
After 54 holes, the Aggies finished 16-over par and 14 shots behind Georgia, which also posted a 3-under par 277 and leapfrogged Alabama and Arkansas for the stroke play victory. Rounding out the top 10 were Alabama (+10), Tennessee (+10), LSU (+10), Arkansas (+12), Vanderbilt (+13), South Carolina (+15), Texas A&M, Auburn (+20) and Florida (+20).
When they needed it the most, the Aggies got solid play from up and down their lineup. Leading the way, as he has all year, was 2021 Ben Hogan Award semifinalist Sam Bennett, who dropped a 3-under par 67, which was the low round of the day from any golfer among the top eight teams. The junior from Madisonville, Texas, jumped 24 spots on the leaderboard and ended up tied for 20th at 4-over.
"Super" senior Dan Erickson also turned in an under par round with a 1-under 69. With the match play berth in the balance, Erickson turned in a bogey-free back nine that included a crucial birdie on the 6th hole (15th of his round). Erickson jumped eight spots to a tie for 7th at 1-over on the player leaderboard.
Daniel Rodrigues, a freshman from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, got the Aggies rolling early with consecutive birdies to start his third round on his way to an even par 70. He jumped 13 spots on the final day and finished in a tie for 44th at 9-over.
Turning in the final counting score was William Paysse, a sophomore from Belton, Texas, who posted a 1-over 71. After a double bogey on his seventh hole, Paysse played his final 11 holes at 1-under with no bogeys. He finished stroke play tied for 39th at 8-over.
Senior Walker Lee, from Houston, Texas, turned in a 4-over 74 and finished tied for 51st at 10-over after stroke play.
Head Coach Brian Kortan said:
"Like I've been saying all year, when this team is locked in and confident, they are a dangerous bunch. There are so many ebbs and flows in golf and I'm proud of the way that this team continued to battle and how they responded to today's challenge. The guys got into a 'fight' mode or maybe a 'we're better than that' mode and did what they had to do to advance to match play. Now we have to shift our focus to Georgia and match play, and we know we'll have our work cut out for us against the Bulldogs."
Aggies on the Leaderboard (After stroke play):
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man: One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.
Entering the day eight strokes out of the eighth and final qualifying spot, the Aggies fired a 3-under 277 to surge from 12th to eighth on the team leaderboard. A matchup with top-seed and No. 10-ranked Georgia awaits the No. 11 Aggies in the SEC Championships quarterfinals on Saturday. The Aggies and Bulldogs begin play at 6:30 a.m. CT.
Saturday's Matchup:
| # | Time – Hole | #1 Georgia (No. 10 Golfstat) | #8 Texas A&M (No. 11 Golfstat) |
| #5 | 6:30 a.m. - 1 | Trent Phillips | Walker Lee |
| #4 | 6:40 a.m. - 1 | Connor Creasy | William Paysse |
| #3 | 6:50 a.m. - 1 | Davis Thompson | Daniel Rodrigues |
| #2 | 7:00 a.m. - 1 | Spencer Ralston | Sam Bennett |
| #1 | 7:10 a.m. - 1 | Eli Scott | Dan Erickson |
After 54 holes, the Aggies finished 16-over par and 14 shots behind Georgia, which also posted a 3-under par 277 and leapfrogged Alabama and Arkansas for the stroke play victory. Rounding out the top 10 were Alabama (+10), Tennessee (+10), LSU (+10), Arkansas (+12), Vanderbilt (+13), South Carolina (+15), Texas A&M, Auburn (+20) and Florida (+20).
When they needed it the most, the Aggies got solid play from up and down their lineup. Leading the way, as he has all year, was 2021 Ben Hogan Award semifinalist Sam Bennett, who dropped a 3-under par 67, which was the low round of the day from any golfer among the top eight teams. The junior from Madisonville, Texas, jumped 24 spots on the leaderboard and ended up tied for 20th at 4-over.
"Super" senior Dan Erickson also turned in an under par round with a 1-under 69. With the match play berth in the balance, Erickson turned in a bogey-free back nine that included a crucial birdie on the 6th hole (15th of his round). Erickson jumped eight spots to a tie for 7th at 1-over on the player leaderboard.
Daniel Rodrigues, a freshman from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, got the Aggies rolling early with consecutive birdies to start his third round on his way to an even par 70. He jumped 13 spots on the final day and finished in a tie for 44th at 9-over.
Turning in the final counting score was William Paysse, a sophomore from Belton, Texas, who posted a 1-over 71. After a double bogey on his seventh hole, Paysse played his final 11 holes at 1-under with no bogeys. He finished stroke play tied for 39th at 8-over.
Senior Walker Lee, from Houston, Texas, turned in a 4-over 74 and finished tied for 51st at 10-over after stroke play.
Head Coach Brian Kortan said:
"Like I've been saying all year, when this team is locked in and confident, they are a dangerous bunch. There are so many ebbs and flows in golf and I'm proud of the way that this team continued to battle and how they responded to today's challenge. The guys got into a 'fight' mode or maybe a 'we're better than that' mode and did what they had to do to advance to match play. Now we have to shift our focus to Georgia and match play, and we know we'll have our work cut out for us against the Bulldogs."
Aggies on the Leaderboard (After stroke play):
| Place | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 8 | Texas A&M | 286 | 293 | 277 | 856 |
| T7 | Dan Erickson | 68 | 74 | 69 | 211 |
| T20 | Sam Bennett | 74 | 73 | 67 | 214 |
| T39 | William Paysse | 74 | 73 | 71 | 218 |
| T44 | Daniel Rodrigues | 76 | 73 | 70 | 219 |
| T51 | Walker Lee | 70 | 76 | 74 | 220 |
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man: One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.
Players Mentioned
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