Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
NCAA Championship
Floren Cards 1-Under 69 at NCAA Championships
May 31, 2007 | Men's Golf
May 31, 2007
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Texas Tech senior Oscar Floren fired a second-round 69 at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Thursday, providing the Red Raiders with a silver lining on an otherwise tough outing. The Red Raiders fell to last place after posting a 17-over par round at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va.
Floren opened play from the back nine, where the Red Raiders began the round, and finished even with a pair of bogeys and birdies. After bogeying hole No. 1, Floren followed with birdies at four and six to finish one-under. The round moved Floren from a tie in 107th to a 58th-place tie.
Unfortunately, Floren was the only Tech player to improve his score from the first round. Sophomore Santiago Rivas carded a 73 Thursday, one stroke off his opening-round score. Rivas sits in a 91st-place tie, while freshman Matt Smith sits tied in 132nd place with a pair of 75s. Freshman Will Griffin is tied in 139th place with rounds of 72 and 79 and sophomore Garrett Merrell is tied in 150th place with rounds of 76 and 77.
The Red Raiders tee off in the third round Friday afternoon and will have to play error-free golf to make the cut of 15.
"We are going to play like it's our last round tomorrow," Tech Head Coach Greg Sands said. "I guess you never know; we could all go shoot really low, and you can never give up hope, but you also have to be realistic and not go try and shoot 62 and force something. We all go play well and shoot the round of the tournament, you never really know what will happen."
Stanford leads the tournament at seven-under, one stroke better than second-place Minnesota. Coastal Carolina is third at two under, while East Tennessee State and Charlotte round out the top five even and two-over par, respectively. Minnesota's Brandon LaCassie leads the event after posting rounds of 67 and 65 and is eight under on the event.
Players Mentioned
