Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Conference Championships
Red Raiders Climb into Second Place
April 26, 2008 | Men's Golf
April 26, 2008
TRINITY, Texas - Texas Tech isn't backing down. The Red Raiders, who opened the tournament with a 14-over 308 Friday morning, fired a second-straight 282 in the third round to move into second place at the Big 12 Conference Men's Golf Championships. The team still has work to do in Sunday's final round to catch tournament leader Oklahoma State. Tech began the day in fourth place behind Texas A&M and Texas.
"We need to continue playing well and OSU has to give us some help," Texas Tech Head Coach Greg Sands said of the Cowboys, who lead the event at 14-under. "We won't have a reunion if we finish second. If you are second in this event, that's nothing to hang your head about; but we want to win."
The Cowboys have been steady throughout the tournament's first three rounds, but the play of the Red Raiders in the second and third rounds has been unmatched by the rest of the field. After struggling in the first round, Texas Tech bounced back with a pair of 6-under 282s Friday afternoon and Saturday. Only three 282s have been carded during the event - the other by Oklahoma State in the second round.
Garrett Merrell carded a 4-under 68 Saturday, less than 24 hours after turning in Friday's low total of 67 in the second round. Merrell is 5-under for the tournament and is tied in second place with the nation's top-ranked golfer, Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State. The formidable back nine is where Merrell has made his move each of the last two rounds, shooting 7-under combined, including nine birdies.
Chris Ward is tied in fourth place with Texas' Charlie Holland after carding his third-straight round of par or better in the event. Ward followed Friday afternoon's 69 with a 71 and is one stroke behind Fowler and two behind tournament leader Kevin Tway of OSU - both former teammates of Ward's, who transferred from OSU to Tech in January.
"Garrett has really come on the last two rounds and Chris has been steady from the get-go," Sands said. "However, we need to remember to keep playing for the team, which everyone has done. I can't say enough about this team's mindset right now."
Santiago Rivas is tied in 14th place after shooting a 71 Saturday and is four strokes out of the top ten with a three-round 220. Will Griffin climbed seven places and is tied in 25th place with a 224 after firing back-to-back rounds of 71 and 72. Sergio Franky bounced back from a rough start yesterday with a 75 and is tied at 48 with a 234.
Texas Tech entered the third round trailing second-place Texas by two and Texas A&M by one, but pulled ahead early in the third round. The Red Raiders fought off the Longhorns, who shot 2-under on the day, while the Aggies struggled with 6-over par round to drop to 13-over for the tournament. Tech is 2-over, while Texas narrowly trails at 4-over in third place. Oklahoma State (850), Texas Tech (866) and Texas (868) will be grouped together for Sunday's final round.
Baylor (892) leads the rest of the field, followed by Kansas (896), Oklahoma (900), Iowa State (903), Kansas State (905), Nebraska (908), Colorado (911) and Missouri (921).
The final round begins at 8 a.m. Sunday at Whispering Pines Golf Course in Trinity, Texas. For complete results and live scoring, log-on to www.golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
