May 30, 2008

NCAA Championship Notes

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After a mild day with steady winds of 20 mph coming from the south, third round action at the 2008 NCAA Championship was suspended due to impending thunderstorms.

As the horn sounded, No. 16 Auburn was approaching the 18th and final hole of the day in a tie for 14th with a tournament total of 45-over par.

Senior Steven Groover finished the day at even par through 17 holes and with a two-day total of 154, and is tied for 36th on the individual leader board. Seniors Patton Kizzire (+2) and Gordon Strother (+4) are tied for 54th and through holes 16 and 15, respectively. Senior Jay Moseley (+5) is tied for 62nd through 15 and junior Glenn Northcutt (+5) is tied for 97th through 17.

"I am happy with the way we bounced back after yesterday's round," said Auburn head coach Mike Griffin. "We have put ourselves in position to make the cut. It's unfortunate that the bad weather came and play was suspended."

Prior to the 5:45 p.m. EST suspension, play was delayed from 4:15 to 4:55 as lightning from the approaching storm system encroached upon the Birck Boilermaker Complex.

Only three teams inside the 15-team cut line for the fourth and final round have yet to complete the third round, with Auburn being the closest to the cut.

The Tigers hovered at or just above the cut line for the better part of the afternoon, surpassing Texas in the middle stages of the round. Auburn is currently tied with No. 18 Texas A&M who has already completed the round.

"We just need to come out Saturday and finish this round strong so that we can move on to the fourth," said Griffin. "Then, who knows what can happen?"

No. 4 UCLA (298-888) is currently in the lead followed by No. 3 Southern California (300-891) and No. 14 Clemson (302-891) in a tie for second. No. 6 Stanford (296-893) is in ahead of No. 5 Oklahoma State (301-895), No. 7 Florida (306-899), Kent State (302-900), No. 1 Georgia (305-901) and Washington (307-902).

No. 23 Louisville, at 39-over par through 15-17 holes, is tied with No. 2 Alabama (297-903) for 10th. San Diego State, 40-over through 13-17 holes, is ahead of No. 8 Charlotte (306-907), No. 16 Auburn and No. 18 Texas A&M (306-909).

Under the cut line are Texas (+48) through 10-12, UC-Irvine (+49) through 11-14, Middle Tennessee State (311-913), UAB (+50) through 15-17, No. 17 Wake Forest (+51) through 11-14, No. 19 Arizona State (312-916), Illinois (312-916), No. 24 Indiana (+53) through 9-10, Penn State (+56) through 13-17, East Tennessee State (+56) through 13-17, Oregon (+63) through 10-12, Mississippi State (+64) through 10-12, Virginia (+65) through 11-14, Augusta State (+76) and St. Mary's (+80) through 9-10.

The third round of the 2008 NCAA Championship held at the par-72, 7,462-yard Kampen Course will resume 7:00 am EST Saturday where play ceased Friday. Auburn will remain paired with Louisville and UAB.

The four-day, 72-hole tournament that features live-scoring via Golfstat (www.golfstat.com) will be cut to the low 15 teams following the completion of third round play Saturday morning. Fourth round tee times are yet to be announced.