Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
National Invitational Tournament
Red Raiders Face Uphill Battle in the Desert
March 17, 2010 | Men's Golf
March 17, 2010
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech went from a sixth-place tie after Wednesday morning's opening round to 11th place following the afternoon's second round at the National Invitational Tournament in Tucson, Ariz. Despite playing consistently and carding nearly identical scores each round, the rest of the field of 14 showed improvement in the latter round.
The No. 16 Red Raiders opened with a 6-over 294, but was four shots higher in the afternoon. Despite falling to 11th place, Texas Tech is only five strokes out of the top five.
Matt Smith carried the Red Raiders in the first round, carding an even-par 72 to tie in 10th place, but struggled during the afternoon round at 11-over after posting bogey or double-bogey on nine holes. He currently is tied in 65th place. Chris Ward is the team leader and tied in 22nd place, after firing an even-par round in the afternoon to go with his 75 from the first. Nils Floren, ranked seventh nationally, and Tyler Weworski are tied in 26th place at 4-over, while Finley Ewing IV is tied in 54th place at 8-over. Brian Scherer, playing unattached, is tied in 33rd place and is 5-over.
TCU leads the event by eight strokes over second-place Arizona, while Texas and Baylor are third and fourth. California and SMU are tied in fifth place and Purdue, New Mexico, Colorado State and Tulsa round out the top 10. Tech, UTEP, Wyoming and Arizona's B team complete the field, respectively.
The final round gets underway Thursday morning. Complete results and standings as well as live scoring throughout the final round are available at www.golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
