Hogs fall to 10th in Norman
Arkansas Razorbacks men’s golf Coach Brad McMakin has lamented his team’s “one bad round” per tournament on several occasions this year.
The No. 15 Razorbacks had that bad round, on a relatively good day for scoring, Tuesday at the NCAA Norman Regional and now have just 18 holes to recover. The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville fired a 5 over at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club while most of their rivals were shooting under par to fall eight spots into 10th place.
Arkansas, which entered the second round tied for second place, has a score of 5 over heading into today’s final round. The low five teams at six regionals will play for the NCAA championship in Stillwater, Okla., in two weeks.
The Razorbacks trail No. 3 Oklahoma by 14 strokes and are eight shots away from No. 10 Auburn and BYU, who are tied for fourth.
Pepperdine made the day’s biggest move, firing a 14 under to reach second place at 7 under for the regional. North Florida is in third at 5 under.
No. 22 Florida State (+1), Virginia (+2), Nevada (+3) and San Diego State (+4) are also ahead of the Razorbacks.
Senior Alvaro Ortiz was the only Razorback under par at 1-under 71 on Tuesday. He is at 1 over for the tournament in a tie for 25th. Sophomore Tyson Reeder shot even par on Tuesday, while Luis Garza was at 2 over, Mason Overstreet was 4 over and William Buhl, the Razorbacks’ low man with a 3 under in the opening round, fired a 7 over.
Garza is tied for 37th place at 3 over for the regional, while Buhl, Overstreet and Reeder are at 3 over and tied for 44th.
Arkansas State University senior Tanner Napier fired a 3 under to reach even par for the regional and moved up 17 spots into a tie for 19th place. Southern Illinois junior Peyton Wilhoit of Searcy is also tied for 19th after shooting a 2-under 70 on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Lewis George of the University of Central Arkansas shot a 77 in Tuesday’s regional at the Traditions Golf Club in Bryan, Texas. George, who shot a 150 after two rounds, is in 49th place.
— Tom Murphy
Three from UA qualify for U.S. Women’s Open
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville juniors Kaylee Benton, Dylan Kim and Maria Fassi qualified for the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open on Monday.
Benton (68-70) and Kim (70-68) tied for first at a qualifier in Irving, Texas, with a 138. Fassi finished second in a qualifier in Houston with a 1-under-par 143 (69-74).
The U.S. Women’s Open will be held at the Shoal Creek Club in Shoal Creek, Ala., on May 31-June 3.