SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Texas A&M junior Daniel Rodrigues fired five birdies Saturday and posted a 4-under 66 to move into a tie for second place after two rounds of the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club.
Rodrigues carded four birdies on the front nine, including back-to-back on No. 3 and No. 4, as he shot 4-under 31 on the front nine. He went bogeyless until the 18th hole. With a two-round tally of 4-under 136, Rodrigues is tied with Illinois's Adrien Dumont de Chassart, three strokes behind the leader Ross Steelman (-7) of Georgia Tech.
The Aggies posted a 5-over 285 at the par-72, 7,289-yard Raptor Course, moving up four spots to a tie with Auburn for 11th place at 14-over 574. Illinois is the only squad to break par after two rounds, registering a 2-under 558.
The 30-team field will be cut to 15 after Sunday's round three action. The Aggies are currently three strokes clear of the cutoff which sits at 17-over 577, occupied by 16th place Texas Tech.
Phichaksn Maichon closed strong with birdies on two of his last three holes, to post a 2-over 72 for the second consecutive day. He is tied with 13 golfers in 42nd place at 4-over 144. William Paysse is one stroke back in 55th place after his 3-over 73 on Saturday.
Sam Bennett and Vishnu Sadagopan rounded out the Aggie fivesome with identical scores of 74 on Saturday.
The other magic number for the Aggies is three strokes, which is how far they sit behind the eighth-place spot. The top eight teams after the four rounds of stroke play advance to the quarterfinal match play bracket. Florida State and Virginia are currently tied for the seventh spot at 11-over 571.
Texas A&M goes out in the morning wave Sunday with Vishnu Sadagopan teeing off at hole No. 10 at 9:27 a.m. Central. The Aggies are paired with Alabama and Auburn for the round.
COACH KORTAN QUOTES
On the round...
"It was a pretty scrappy round. We got off to a poor start. We just haven't gotten off to a decent start, so we're fighting from behind. Finishing holes is tough out here. We kind of got it back to a good number. We gave a couple away finishing up the round, but 5-over out there is never a bad score. It's not what we want, but that was a good score if you look at all the scores today. The guys held in there and gave us chance to be in the top 15."
On Daniel Rodrigues' round...
"Roddy did a great job today. He put a lot of shots together and gave himself a lot of opportunities for birdies. He knocked some putts in the hole to really lead us today."
On tomorrow's round...
"I like this group. They'll fight for you. They have a lot of fight in them. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
TEAM SCORES
TEXAS A&M SCORES
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Rodrigues carded four birdies on the front nine, including back-to-back on No. 3 and No. 4, as he shot 4-under 31 on the front nine. He went bogeyless until the 18th hole. With a two-round tally of 4-under 136, Rodrigues is tied with Illinois's Adrien Dumont de Chassart, three strokes behind the leader Ross Steelman (-7) of Georgia Tech.
The Aggies posted a 5-over 285 at the par-72, 7,289-yard Raptor Course, moving up four spots to a tie with Auburn for 11th place at 14-over 574. Illinois is the only squad to break par after two rounds, registering a 2-under 558.
The 30-team field will be cut to 15 after Sunday's round three action. The Aggies are currently three strokes clear of the cutoff which sits at 17-over 577, occupied by 16th place Texas Tech.
Phichaksn Maichon closed strong with birdies on two of his last three holes, to post a 2-over 72 for the second consecutive day. He is tied with 13 golfers in 42nd place at 4-over 144. William Paysse is one stroke back in 55th place after his 3-over 73 on Saturday.
Sam Bennett and Vishnu Sadagopan rounded out the Aggie fivesome with identical scores of 74 on Saturday.
The other magic number for the Aggies is three strokes, which is how far they sit behind the eighth-place spot. The top eight teams after the four rounds of stroke play advance to the quarterfinal match play bracket. Florida State and Virginia are currently tied for the seventh spot at 11-over 571.
Texas A&M goes out in the morning wave Sunday with Vishnu Sadagopan teeing off at hole No. 10 at 9:27 a.m. Central. The Aggies are paired with Alabama and Auburn for the round.
COACH KORTAN QUOTES
On the round...
"It was a pretty scrappy round. We got off to a poor start. We just haven't gotten off to a decent start, so we're fighting from behind. Finishing holes is tough out here. We kind of got it back to a good number. We gave a couple away finishing up the round, but 5-over out there is never a bad score. It's not what we want, but that was a good score if you look at all the scores today. The guys held in there and gave us chance to be in the top 15."
On Daniel Rodrigues' round...
"Roddy did a great job today. He put a lot of shots together and gave himself a lot of opportunities for birdies. He knocked some putts in the hole to really lead us today."
On tomorrow's round...
"I like this group. They'll fight for you. They have a lot of fight in them. I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
TEAM SCORES
| 1 | Illinois | 285-273=558 | -2 |
| 2 | Florida | 283-278=561 | +1 |
| t-3 | Georgia Tech | 282-284=566 | +6 |
| t-4 | North Carolina | 282-284=566 | +6 |
| 5 | Pepperdine | 281-287=568 | +8 |
| 6 | Vanderbilt | 282-288=570 | +10 |
| t-7 | Florida State | 284-287=571 | +11 |
| t-7 | Virginia | 290-281=571 | +11 |
| t-9 | Alabama | 290-282=572 | +12 |
| t-9 | Arizona State | 291-281=572 | +12 |
| t-11 | Texas A&M | 289-285=574 | +14 |
| t-11 | Auburn | 288-286=574 | +14 |
| t-13 | Brigham Young | 289-287=576 | +16 |
| t-13 | Georgia | 285-291=576 | +16 |
| t-13 | Stanford | 290-286=576 | +16 |
| Field cuts to 15 after Sunday's round | |||
| 16 | Texas Tech | 282-295=577 | +17 |
| t-17 | Colorado | 292-287=579 | +19 |
| t-17 | San Francisco | 285-294=579 | +19 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 287-293=580 | +20 |
| t-20 | Arkansas | 281-301=582 | +22 |
| t-20 | Ohio State | 287-295=582 | +22 |
| 22 | Oregon | 292-291=583 | +23 |
| 23 | Mississippi State | 291-295=586 | +26 |
| 24 | Texas | 295-292=587 | +27 |
| 25 | New Mexico | 293-296=589 | +29 |
| 26 | Duke | 290-300=590 | +30 |
| 27 | Chattanooga | 294-300=594 | +34 |
| 28 | Colorado State | 296-299=595 | +35 |
| 29 | East Tennessee State | 303-297=600 | +40 |
| 30 | Baylor | 304-297=601 | +41 |
TEXAS A&M SCORES
| t-2. | Daniel Rodrigues | 70-66=136 | -4 |
| t-42. | Phichaksn Maichon | 72-72=144 | +4 |
| t-55. | William Paysse | 72-73=145 | +5 |
| t-107. | Sam Bennett | 75-74=149 | +9 |
| t-115. | Vishnu Sadagopan | 76-74=150 | +10 |
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