Baylor MGOLF in 12th Place After Three Rounds at NCAA Championship

[Roberts, Matt]

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- May 26, 2024

Baylor MGOLF in 12th Place After Three Rounds at NCAA Championship
The Bears make the 54-hole cut for the first time since 2017
For more information, contact Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Baylor men’s golf punched its ticket to the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championship with a 4-over 292 on Sunday at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.

The 12th-place Bears will play the final round of stroke play for the first time since 2017, which was also the last time the Bears qualified for match play. Needing to get inside the top-8 to extend their season beyond Monday, BU sits four shots behind eighth-place Florida entering the final round.

Johnny Keefer continues to lead Baylor with his 1-under 215, tying him for seventh individually. The senior is just four shots behind the 54-hole leader, Adam Wallin of Ohio State. Keefer is in position to be Baylor's highest-finishing individual in NCAA Championship history. Lorenzo Scotto holds the current mark with his tie for 25th at the 2010 NCAA Championship.

THE RUNDOWN
Starting at No. 10, Keefer opened strong with back-to-back birdies and added a third at No. 15. He dropped a shot with a bogey at No. 17 but still made the turn in red figures with a 2-under 34. He added a fourth birdie at No. 4 but dropped a couple of shots on the homeward half at Nos. 7 and 8 to finish with a 71.

Tyler Isenhart put together his best round of the week with an even-par 72 to pull into a tie for 51st. The senior opened with eight-straight pars before a bogey at No. 18 dropped him to 1-over at the turn. He clawed the stroke back with a birdie at No. 3 to get back to even par, where he finished the round.

Zach Heffernan is tied with Isenhart in 51st after a 1-over 73 on Sunday. Bogeys at Nos. 10 and 14 dropped him to 2-over through five holes. The junior rebounded to play his final four holes on the back nine at 1-under with birdies at Nos. 15 and 18 around a bogey at 17. He fought back to even with a birdie at No. 3 and picked up two more shots with a long eagle putt at No. 6. A triple-bogey seven at his final hole of the day dropped him back to 1-over for the day.

Davis Ovard finished Sunday in a tie for 86th with a 4-over 76 in the third round. A steady front nine saw him card eight pars around a lone bogey at No. 15. The freshman made a double-bogey five at No. 3 and closed with a bogey at No. 9 in an otherwise solid round.

Jonas Appel improved his score for a second-straight day with a 5-over 77 on Sunday. The Encinitas, Calif., native played his first four holes at 5-over with a triple-bogey at No. 10, followed by bogeys at Nos. 11 and 12. The last par of his outward half came at No. 13, preceding birdies at Nos. 14, 15 and 18 around bogeys at Nos. 16 and 17. One more birdie dropped for Appel at No. 1 with bogeys at Nos. 3 and 6 to move up to a tie for 143rd.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   BU made the cut at the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2017
  *   12th place is Baylor’s highest position after three rounds at the NCAA Championship since 2017, when they were tied for seventh.
  *   After playing holes No. 11-16 at 12-over as a team on Saturday, the Bears played one of the toughest stretches on the golf course at even-par today, counting all five scores. Nos. 12, 13, 14 and 16 are four of the five hardest holes on the course the week.
  *   The Bears are one of two teams with multiple eagles on the card this week.
  *   Davis Ovard is tied for the fourth-most pars this week (39).
  *   BU is one of three Big 12 teams to advance to the final round (Texas and Oklahoma).


QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mike McGraw on the third round — “I think it was a great round. I mean, it’s pretty safe to say few, if any, teams didn't have some sort of semi-disaster at some point out there. The golf course is relentless and never lets up, so I was very happy with our score. We had it to two-under par with just three holes left, but I'm really happy with the way the guys played to stay in contention. We still have a chance to make match play, and they know that opportunity is right there before them, they’ve just got to go get it.”

Head Coach Mike McGraw on being the first team since 2017 to make the cut — “One of the things I told them about a month ago, as we were starting to trend and play better, is I felt like they were as good as that 2017 team if they put it all together. If they're that good, surely they can figure out a way to make match play. It's going to take a really good performance tomorrow, but I think we're up to it. I think they can do it.”

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears will play alongside Texas and Georgia Tech, teeing off on No. 10 at 12:41 p.m. CT. Golf Channel will have live coverage from 5-9 p.m. CT, while live scoring and stats can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=29187>

For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on X, Instagram and Facebook.


—BaylorBears.com—





Matt Roberts | Associate Director of Athletic Communications (MBB/MGOLF/ WGOLF)
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 254-227-2280
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