May 28, 2008

NCAA Championship Notes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - No. 16 Auburn shot an 18-over 306 and is tied for 10th after the NCAA Championship first round at the par-72, 7,462-yard Kampen Course at Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Complex on Wednesday.

Senior Gordon Strother led all Tigers with a 3-over 75 and is currently tied for 23rd, individually. First-team All-SEC senior Jay Moseley (76) is tied for 40th, junior Glenn Northcutt (77) is tied for 54th, senior Steven Groover (78) is tied for 71st and senior Patton Kizzire (79) is tied for 87th.

"You lose golf balls in the first cut," said Auburn head coach Mike Griffin. "You lose shoes in the second cut, loose golf bags in the third cut and you better keep an eye on the your firstborn on the rest.

"We got off to a great start today as the team was even par through the first 7-8 holes. Then we lost ground. Everybody lost some ground, though, on this course.

"The guys are going to be disappointed that they didn't finish off well, but I am proud of them."

The Tigers were at 2-over par through the first eight holes, just two strokes off the leader, Stanford. Strother was at 1-under par, followed by Moseley, Northcutt and Kizzire, each at 1-over. After making the turn at 4-over, the back nine would wear on Auburn, adding 14 strokes and seeing the Tigers slip to 10th.

"I don't think our numbers were that bad if you take the average scores out here, but if you want to be leading the tournament, we have some work to do. We have some time to do it."

After teeing off the back nine at even-par, Strother carded bogies on Nos. 10 and 12, a birdie on 11 and a double bogey on 13 raising his score to 3-over. Shooting even the rest of the way in, Strother would go to the clubhouse leading Auburn on the day.

Moseley made the turn at 2-over but quickly gave up two additional strokes to a double-bogey on the par-4, 483-yard No. 11. After a bogey on No. 16, Moseley would fire back with a birdie on 17 and finish the day at 4-over par.

Northcutt was shooting 2-over until he reached the 11th where he carded a birdie and a subsequent triple-bogey on the par-4, 477-yard No. 12. Another bogey on No. 14 would put Northcutt at 6-over, but he would respond with a birdy on 16, a 608-yard par-4, and head to the clubhouse at 5-over.

Carding bogeys on Nos. 3, 6 and 7 and a double-bogey on 3, Groover made the turn at 5-over par but went on to drop just one stroke to the back nine, coming in at 6-over. Approaching the 18th, Groover was just 4-over but gave up two strokes to a double-bogey on the final hole of the day.

Kizzire opened with a birdie on No. 3 but scored a double-bogey on 4, a 534-yard par-5. With bogies on Nos. 11 and 14 and double-bogeys on 15 and 18, Kizzire finished the day at 7-over.

The par-4, 484-yard No. 18 gave competitors problems all day, allowing only eight birdies to 89 bogeys or worse.

No. 3 Southern California and No. 4 UCLA carded 9-over 297s and are currently tied for the lead, followed by No.53 Oklahoma State (298), No. 14 Clemson (301), Kent State (301), Illinois (302), No. 7 Florida (302), No. 1 Georgia (303), Washington (305), Auburn, No. 8 Charlotte (306), No. 6 Stanford (309), No. 18 Texas A&M (309), Middle Tennessee State (309), No. 2 Alabama (309), San Diego State (310), No. 19 Arizona State (311), No. 23 Louisville (311), Texas (311), UAB (311), Virginia (312), No. 24 Indiana (313),East Tenn. State (313), No. 17 Wake Forest (314), Penn State (315), Oregon (315), UC-Irvine (320), Mississippi (326), Augusta State (326) and St. Mary's (333).

UCLA's Kevin Chappell carded a 3-under 69 and holds the individual lead after round one. Kent State's David Markle (70) and Southern California's Tom Sluiter (70) are tied for second.

Auburn will begin second round play in the morning wave Thursday off the No. 10 tee at 8:07 am Central with Stanford and Charlotte. The four-day, 72-hole tournament that features live-scoring via Golfstat (www.golfstat.com) will be cut to the low 15 teams following third round play Friday.