Wednesday, April 24
St. Simons Island, Ga.
Texas A&M
at
SEC Championship
Aggies Advance to Quarterfinal Round at SEC Championship
Apr 26, 2024 | Men's Golf
Daniel Rodrigues tied for second place in the individual standings with his three-round tally of 6-under 204.
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The Texas A&M Aggies earned their ticket to the match play portion of the SEC Men's Golf Championship, posting a seventh-place finish in the stroke play preliminary rounds which wrapped up Friday.
The Aggies tallied a 2-under 278 for the second consecutive round to end stroke play at 8-under 832. With the No. 7 seed in the Saturday morning's quarterfinal round, Texas A&M opens with Tennessee in bracket play. Action at the par-70, 7,005-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club starts at 7:20 a.m.
Daniel Rodrigues tied for second place in the individual standings with his three-round tally of 6-under 204. He played steady throughout the 54 holes of stroke play with just four bogeys. He fired a 1-under 69 in Friday's round to share runner-up position with Florida's Jack Turner, Mississippi State's Hunter Logan and Vanderbilt's Matthew Riedel. The trio trailed only tournament medalist Jackson Koivun of Auburn who fired a 12-under 198.
Michael Heidelbaugh spearheaded Friday's charge with the Aggies' best round of stroke play at the tournament. He registered birdies in four of his last seven holes to finish 4-under 66 on the day. Heidelbaugh earned a 14th-place finish at 2-under 208.
Phichaksn Maichon also closed out in 14th place. He posted a 1-over 71 after rounds of 70 and 67.
Jaime Montojo and Aaron Pounds recorded rounds of 2-over 72 on the last day as the Aggies finished a comfortable 17 strokes above the cutoff for the quarterfinals.
Auburn and Tennessee shared the top spot in stroke play at 14-under (826), followed by Vanderbilt (-13), Georgia (-11) and Arkansas (-11) in the top 5. The other two squads to reach the quarterfinals were sixth-place Florida (-10) and eighth-place Alabama (-2).
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M men's golf follow the Aggies on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On advancing through the stroke play portion...
"The stroke play is always a battle. This conference is full of great teams. There was a time in the day we were all the way up to second and even though we finished seventh, we were only six strokes out of first place after 54 holes. It was tight. There was a lot of good golf played today. We did good – the guys were solid, disciplined and did what we needed to do. In order to reach your goal here, you have to get through stroke play and it doesn't matter how you do it. We got through step one, now a whole new tournament starts tomorrow."
On Michael Heidelbaugh's strong third round...
"Michael has been close to putting a round like that together for a while. All three rounds here he's been right there. Today was just a culmination of the last two days, where just a shot here or a made putt there and he'd battling at the top of the leaderboard. He did a great job. He was steady and controlled his golf ball. He has been working hard at home to do that and it was great to see it play out on the course in a championship setting."
On Daniel Rodrigues finishing runner-up...
"Roddy loves playing the SEC Championship. He loves Sea Island Golf Club and the challenge it presents. It was great to see him fighting at the top of the leaderboard, but he really likes what's next. The background of our European's – Dani and Jaime (Montojo) – is a lot of match play. It's something they have a lot of experience in and they're looking forward to the match play."
On what changes are made going from stroke play to match play...
"In general, the ball is a little bit more theirs. In stroke play we talk a little bit more about strategy we want to see as a team and how to best play some team golf. When you start playing mono y mono it's a little bit different. It's a feel thing. If they have a shot they like then I expect them to take care of that shot and they the freedom to approach it a little differently than we would in a team setting. They're really worked hard and earned that freedom. I want them to trust that – trust the time they put in and their experience – and go out and win a point."
TEAM SCORES
TEXAS A&M SCORES
SATURDAY QUARTERFINAL MATCH PLAY PAIRINGS
The Aggies tallied a 2-under 278 for the second consecutive round to end stroke play at 8-under 832. With the No. 7 seed in the Saturday morning's quarterfinal round, Texas A&M opens with Tennessee in bracket play. Action at the par-70, 7,005-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club starts at 7:20 a.m.
Daniel Rodrigues tied for second place in the individual standings with his three-round tally of 6-under 204. He played steady throughout the 54 holes of stroke play with just four bogeys. He fired a 1-under 69 in Friday's round to share runner-up position with Florida's Jack Turner, Mississippi State's Hunter Logan and Vanderbilt's Matthew Riedel. The trio trailed only tournament medalist Jackson Koivun of Auburn who fired a 12-under 198.
Michael Heidelbaugh spearheaded Friday's charge with the Aggies' best round of stroke play at the tournament. He registered birdies in four of his last seven holes to finish 4-under 66 on the day. Heidelbaugh earned a 14th-place finish at 2-under 208.
Phichaksn Maichon also closed out in 14th place. He posted a 1-over 71 after rounds of 70 and 67.
Jaime Montojo and Aaron Pounds recorded rounds of 2-over 72 on the last day as the Aggies finished a comfortable 17 strokes above the cutoff for the quarterfinals.
Auburn and Tennessee shared the top spot in stroke play at 14-under (826), followed by Vanderbilt (-13), Georgia (-11) and Arkansas (-11) in the top 5. The other two squads to reach the quarterfinals were sixth-place Florida (-10) and eighth-place Alabama (-2).
For the most up-to-date information on Texas A&M men's golf follow the Aggies on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On advancing through the stroke play portion...
"The stroke play is always a battle. This conference is full of great teams. There was a time in the day we were all the way up to second and even though we finished seventh, we were only six strokes out of first place after 54 holes. It was tight. There was a lot of good golf played today. We did good – the guys were solid, disciplined and did what we needed to do. In order to reach your goal here, you have to get through stroke play and it doesn't matter how you do it. We got through step one, now a whole new tournament starts tomorrow."
On Michael Heidelbaugh's strong third round...
"Michael has been close to putting a round like that together for a while. All three rounds here he's been right there. Today was just a culmination of the last two days, where just a shot here or a made putt there and he'd battling at the top of the leaderboard. He did a great job. He was steady and controlled his golf ball. He has been working hard at home to do that and it was great to see it play out on the course in a championship setting."
On Daniel Rodrigues finishing runner-up...
"Roddy loves playing the SEC Championship. He loves Sea Island Golf Club and the challenge it presents. It was great to see him fighting at the top of the leaderboard, but he really likes what's next. The background of our European's – Dani and Jaime (Montojo) – is a lot of match play. It's something they have a lot of experience in and they're looking forward to the match play."
On what changes are made going from stroke play to match play...
"In general, the ball is a little bit more theirs. In stroke play we talk a little bit more about strategy we want to see as a team and how to best play some team golf. When you start playing mono y mono it's a little bit different. It's a feel thing. If they have a shot they like then I expect them to take care of that shot and they the freedom to approach it a little differently than we would in a team setting. They're really worked hard and earned that freedom. I want them to trust that – trust the time they put in and their experience – and go out and win a point."
TEAM SCORES
| t-1 | Auburn | 274-276-276=826 | -14 |
| t-1 | Tennessee | 277-274-275=826 | -14 |
| 3 | Vanderbilt | 269-276-282=827 | -13 |
| t-4 | Georgia | 270-279-280=829 | -11 |
| t-4 | Arkansas | 279-278-272=829 | -11 |
| 6 | Florida | 279-270-281=830 | -10 |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 276-278-278=832 | -8 |
| 8 | Alabama | 283-272-283=838 | -2 |
| -- cut line -- | |||
| 9 | Ole Miss | 281-280-288=849 | +9 |
| 10 | Mississippi State | 288-281-284=853 | +13 |
| 11 | Kentucky | 283-287-289=859 | +19 |
| 12 | South Carolina | 287-278-296=861 | +21 |
| 13 | LSU | 293-286-295=874 | +34 |
| 14 | Missouri | 290-292-297=879 | +39 |
TEXAS A&M SCORES
| t-2 | Daniel Rodrigues | 67-67=135 | -5 |
| t-14 | Michael Heidelbaugh | 69-73-66=208 | -2 |
| t-14 | Phichaksn Maichon | 70-67-71=208 | -2 |
| t-36 | Jaime Montojo | 70-70-72=212 | +2 |
| t-50 | Aaron Pounds | 74-73-72=219 | +9 |
SATURDAY QUARTERFINAL MATCH PLAY PAIRINGS
| Tennessee | Time | Texas A&M |
| Bruce Murphy | 7:20 a.m. | Jaime Montojo |
| Evan Woosley-Reed | 7:30 a.m. | Michael Heidelbaugh |
| Jake Hall | 7:40 a.m. | Daniel Rodrigues |
| Lance Simpson | 7:50 a.m. | Phichaksn Maichon |
| Bryce Lewis | 8:00 a.m. | Aaron Pounds |
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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