Maichon Leads NCAA Championship after Round One

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Texas A&M standout Phichaksn Maichon paced the field in the opening round of the NCAA Championship, firing a 6-under 66 on the North Course at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
 
Maichon played bogey-free on the par-72, 7,480-yard circuit. He carded four birdies on the front nine for a 32 at the turn. The Aggie senior will start Saturday's second round with three golfers one stroke back in second place, including Texas' Tommy Morrison, Vanderbilt's Jackson Van Paris and Georgia's Carter Loflin.
 
Texas A&M is tied for 23^rd place at 9-over 297. The Aggies are four strokes over the 15^th-place cutoff to advance to the fourth round and eight strokes over the eighth-place cutoff to reach the match play bracket. Oklahoma leads the tournament at 8-under 280 with Florida, Florida State and Texas tied for second at 3-under 285.
 
No other Aggie was able to break par. Wheaton Ennis was next on the leaderboard at 4-over 76 followed by Aaron Pounds (+5), Michael Heidelbaugh (+6) and Jaime Montojo (+7).
 
UP NEXT...
Texas A&M returns to action Saturday, teeing off from No. 10 starting at 9:47 a.m.
 
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On Phichaksn Maichon's round…
"He was dialed in. He played some great golf and got a break or two coming down the stretch which, when you're playing good golf it's funny how that happens. But in general, it was a great round. I'm really proud of him."
 
On the message to the team heading into the second round...
"The message is we've had to climb before. We've had to dig our heels in a little bit in the past. I know they will. They're fighters. They care a lot about each other, so I know they'll come out ready to go tomorrow. We had it going in a really good direction today, but we got a little sloppy and didn't executive down the stretch. We will tomorrow and they'll finish off the round."
 
Senior Phichaksn Maichon
On his round...
"It was good. I hit a lot of fairways and greens. I made a couple putts along the way. It wasn't anything special. It wasn't like I was hitting it super close or anything. I just kind of kept it in front of me. It's a championship golf course and it's tough, so you just have to play smart shots and limit your mistakes.


 
TEAM STANDINGS

1	Oklahoma	-8	280
t-2	Florida	-3	285
t-2	Florida State	-3	285
t-2	Texas	-3	285
t-5	Arizona State	-2	286
t-5	Auburn	-2	286
t-5	Illinois	-2	286
t-8	Brigham Young	+1	289
t-8	Colorado	+1	289
t-8	California	+1	289
11	Georgia	+3	291
t-12	Texas Tech	+4	292
t-12	Troy	+4	292
t-14	Georgia Tech	+5	293
t-14	Oklahoma State	+5	293
t-14	Ole Miss	+5	293
t-14	Pepperdine	+5	293
t-14	South Florida	+5	293
t-19	San Diego	+6	294
t-19	Vanderbilt	+6	294
21	Augusta	+7	295
22	Wake Forest	+8	296
t-23	New Mexico	+9	297
t-23	Texas A&M	+9	297
t-25	UNLV	+11	299
t-25	Virginia	+11	299
27	UCLA	+13	301
28	South Carolina	+14	302
29	Tennessee	+16	304
30	Purdue	+19	307

 
TEXAS A&M SCORES

	TEAM
1	Phichaksn Maichon	-6	66
t-107	Wheaton Ennis	+4	76
t-120	Aaron Pounds	+5	77
t-130	Michael Heidelbaugh	+6	78
t-141	Jaime Montojo	+7	79

 
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