Aggies Climb Eight Spots, Maichon in Third after NCAA Round Two

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Texas A&M standout Phichaksn Maichon remained in the hunt for the individual crown at the NCAA Championship, ending the Saturday's second round tied for Third place at 5-under 139.
 
The senior posted a 1-over 73 in Saturday's loop, starting from No. 10 on the North Course at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. Maichon is four strokes behind tournament co-leaders Michael La Sasso of Ole Miss and Connor Williams of Arizona State who boasts two-round tallies of 9-under 135.
 
Texas A&M moved up eight spots on the leaderboard with Saturday's 3-over 291. The Maroon & White are tied with Vanderbilt and Wake Forest for 15th place with a two-round score of 12-over 588.
 
After Sunday's third round, the field will be cut to 15 teams for Monday's final round. The Aggies sit eight strokes below the eighth-place cutoff to advance to the match play bracket. Arizona State leads the tournament at 13-under 563, trailed by Oklahoma (-10), Auburn (-8), Florida (-5) and Florida State (-1).
 
Playing the second round as a sub, Jacob Sosa paced the Aggies Saturday with a 2-under 70. He strung together three consecutive birdies on No. 16-18 and added another on No. 2 for four in a span of five holes. It marked his first action since playing in the Aggie Invitational on April 12-13.
 
Maichon's 1-over 73 and 2-over 74s by Wheaton Ennis and Michael Heidelbaugh were the other counting scores.
 
UP NEXT...
Texas A&M returns to action Sunday, teeing off from No. 1 starting at 1:50 p.m. The Maroon & White are paired with Wake Forest. BYU, the third team in their group, played its third round Thursday due to religious observance.
 
TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On Jacob Sosa stepping in as a substitute and producing a great round…
"He's been doing what he needs to do to be ready. We had spoken before SECs and Regionals we told him to be ready, because he might have an opportunity. He kept ready and he's gotten back to form which he's been working really hard to do. So it was great to see him put a round together today. I was really proud of him. And it really helped us."
 
On having more of a team effort today and trending toward making the top 15...
"We've been position both days to have really nice round but haven't finished them off. But fortunately, we played well enough in the early parts of those rounds to still be in it. It's going to take two great efforts. First up is tomorrow. You have to be in the top 15 before you can worry about the match play. We need a great effort tomorrow and then obviously we need to follow it up again. The guys know what's in front of them. They won't back down from an opportunity. I'm looking forward to see what the bring to the table tomorrow. I know they've got more in them. They didn't come here to just be happy and be in California. They really want to do a great job and play well and we look forward to them doing that tomorrow."
 
 
TEAM STANDINGS

1	Arizona State	-13	286-277=563
2	Oklahoma	-10	280-286=566
3	Auburn	-8	286-282=568
4	Florida	-5	285-286=571
5	Florida State	-1	285-290=575
6	Texas	E	285-291=576
7	Oklahoma State	+2	293-285=578
8	Ole Miss	+4	293-287=580
9	Illinois	+7	286-297=593
10	California	+8	289-295=584
11	Virginia	+10	299-287=586
t-12	Colorado	+11	289-298=587
t-12	Georgia Tech	+11	293-294=587
t-12	Pepperdine	+11	293-294=587
t-15	Texas A&M	+12	297-291=588
t-15	Vanderbilt	+12	294-294=588
t-15	Wake Forest	+12	296-292=588
18	Brigham Young	+13	289-300=589
19	Texas Tech	+14	292-298=590
20	South Carolina	+19	302-293=595
21	Georgia	+21	291-306=597
22	UCLA	+22	301-297=598
23	UNLV	+23	299-300=599
t-24	Tennessee	+24	304-296=600
t-24	Troy	+24	292-308=600
26	Purdue	+25	307-294=601
t-27	New Mexico	+26	297-305=602
t-27	South Florida	+26	293-309=602
29	Augusta	+29	295-310=605
30	San Diego	+34	294-316=610

 
TEXAS A&M SCORES

	TEAM
1	Phichaksn Maichon	-5	66-73=139
t-89	Wheaton Ennis	+6	76-74=150
t-104	Michael Heidelbaugh	+8	78-74=152
t-132	Aaron Pounds	+12	77-79=156
N/A	Jacob Sosa	-2	XX-70
N/A	Jaime Montojo	+7	79-XX