Baylor MGOLF in Sixth Place After Day Two at Big 12 Championship

Tue Apr 23 16:59:03 CDT 2024

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS- April 23, 2024

Baylor MGOLF in Sixth Place After Day Two at Big 12 Championship
Ovard records his second-straight round at par or better to lead the Bears
For more information, contact Matt Roberts, 254-227-2280, WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu<mailto:WM_Roberts at Baylor.edu>

TRINITY, Texas – Baylor men’s golf picked up three shots in the final two holes Tuesday to finish the third round in sixth place at the Big 12 Championship at Whispering Pines.

Davis Ovard carded his second-straight round at par or better with a 2-under 70, adding to his 54-hole total of 1-under 215. Ovard is the first freshman since Ryan O’Rear in 2010 to shoot multiple rounds at par or better in a Big 12 Championship debut. The freshman is a shot back of Johnny Keefer in the individual standings as the senior sits in a tie for ninth with 18 holes to play. Keefer is six shots behind the individual leader, Cincinnati’s Ty Gingerich.

Texas played the round of the day carding a 13-under 275, entering the final round with a 13-under 851 to lead by 11.

THE RUNDOWN
Keefer’s round started with a bang after a birdie at No. 1, followed by eight-straight pars to turn with a 1-under 35. He reached 3-under par with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 11 and 12. After his foot slipped on his tee shot at No. 14, Keefer carded a triple-bogey seven and added another bogey at No. 16 to drop back over par. A birdie-birdie finish at Nos. 17 and 18 moved him back under par and into the top 10 in a tie for ninth.

Similar to Keefer, Ovard got off to a stellar start to his round with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 1 and 2. The freshman got to 3-under but gave a shot back with a bogey at No. 9 to make the turn at 2-under. He dropped a second shot with a bogey at No. 13 before rebounding with a birdie at 15. His third and final bogey of the day came at No. 16 and was followed by a birdie at No. 17 to finish the day tied for 11th.

Zach Heffernan turned in his best round of the week, a 1-over 73 en route to a tie for 38th after three rounds. He opened with a pair of bogeys on the front nine at Nos. 2 and 9 to turn at 2-over. The junior recorded a bogey-free back nine, which included a birdie at No. 12 to close with a 1-under 35.

Tyler Isenhart shot a 4-over 76 and is tied for 43rd with 18 holes to play. Following an opening-hole birdie, Isenhart gave back a shot at No. 4 and made the turn with a 36. The senior played his first six holes of the back nine at 4-over with bogeys at Nos. 11 and 15 around a double-bogey at No. 13.

Luke Dossey shot a third-round 82 and moved into 63rd place. Two holes cost him five shots on the front nine as a quadruple-bogey eight at No. 4, and a bogey at No. 8 saw him make the turn with a 5-over 41. After five-straight pars to open the back nine, Dossey played his final four holes at 5-over to close out his round.

HIGHLIGHTS

  *   BU ranks second in par-3 scoring average (3.17).
  *   Sixth place is BU’s highest 54-hole position since they were sixth after two days in 2021.
  *   The Bears picked up three shots on the field in the final two holes to move past BYU and into the penultimate group on Wednesday.
  *   Baylor’s 171 pars rank as the fourth-most in the field through three rounds.
  *   Keefer has played two rounds at par or better for the second time in his Big 12 Championship career, also stringing together two rounds at par or better at Whispering Pines in 2022.

STAT OF THE DAY
2010 — The last time a Baylor freshman shot two rounds at par or better in their Big 12 Championship debut. Ryan O’Rear started 72-71 in his Big 12 Championship debut at Whispering Pines in April of 2010.

WHAT’S NEXT
The Bears will tee it up in round three alongside Houston and West Virginia beginning at 8:40 a.m. on the No. 1 tee. Live scoring and stats for each round of the tournament can be found at Golfstat.com.<https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=28822> 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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