March 11, 2011
Complete results and live scoring
Griffin Post-Round Interview
Scott chip
Griffin pitches one close
Las Vegas, Nev. –
John-Tyler Griffin led a back-nine surge for Georgia Tech, firing a 1-under-par 71 Friday and lifting the 4th-ranked Yellow Jackets into a tie for third after the first round of the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters.
Griffin, a senior from Wilson, N.C., recorded four birdies in his incoming nine to pace the Jackets to a 6-over-par score of 294. They are tied with 7th-ranked Texas, top-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 22 California, 14 strokes back of Texas A&M, which has far and way the top score of the day at 8-under 280. Arizona State is in second at 4-over 292.
Kyle Scott carded an even-par 72 on the 7,510-yard Southern Highlands Golf Club, the longest course Tech plays all year, while James White shot a 2-over 74 and Paul Haley added a 5-over 77 for the Yellow Jackets’ counting scores. Freshman Richard Werenski shot a 79.
“I saw some real toughness today,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “The back nine is hard, and we played it even. It was a very positive day. We had triple-bogeys on 1 and 4 and 9, but really handled the rest of the course. The guys are ready to try to challenge this course tomorrow.”
Texas Tech (299), UCLA (301), TCU (301) and UNLV (303) round out the top 10 teams in the 15-team field, which includes eight of the nation’s top 25 teams.
A&M had three players match or break par, including an 8-under 64 by Jordan Russell, who has a five-stroke lead on teammate Conrad Schindler and Oklahoma State’s Morgan Hoffman (69). Dylan Frittelli of Texas, Stephen Hale of California and Scott Pinckney of Arizona State are tied at 70.
Griffin is in a group of four players tied for seventh place at 71, while Scott is tied with two others for 11th place at 72.
The Yellow Jackets begin round two off the first tee at 11 a.m. Eastern time Saturday.
SHC MASTERSSouthern Highlands Golf Club, Las Vegas, Nev.First-Round Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Texas A&M 280 -8 2 Arizona State 292 +4 T3 Texas 294 +6 T3 Georgia Tech 294 +6 T3 Oklahoma State 294 +6 T3 California 294 +6 7 Texas Tech 299 +11 T8 UCLA 301 +13 T8 TCU 301 +13 10 UNLV 303 +15 11 Duke 304 +16 T12 Georgia 305 +17 T12 Baylor 305 +17 14 Arizona 306 +18 15 Southern California 311 +23
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Jordan Russell Texas A&M 64 -8 T2 Morgan Hoffmann Oklahoma State 69 -3 T2 Conrad Shindler Texas A&M 69 -3 T4 Dylan Frittelli Texas 70 -2 T4 Stephen Hale California 70 -2 T4 Scott Pinckney Arizona State 70 -2 T7 Pontus Gad TCU 71 -1 T7 J.T. Griffin Georgia Tech 71 -1 T7 Daniel Jennevret TCU 71 -1 T7 Jesper Kennegard Arizona State 71 -1 T11 Ben An California 72 E T11 Sean Einhaus Oklahoma State 72 E T11 Kyle Scott Georgia Tech 72 E T14 Connor Driscoll UCLA 73 +1 T14 Nils Floren Texas Tech 73 +1 T14 Cameron Peck Texas A&M 73 +1 T17 Blake Biddle UNLV 74 +2 T17 Ignacio Elvira Texas A&M 74 +2 T17 Derek Ernst UNLV 74 +2 T17 Cody Gribble Texas 74 +2 T17 Wes Roach Duke 74 +2 T17 Matt Smith Texas Tech 74 +2 T17 Julian Suri Duke 74 +2
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T7 J.T. Griffin (2) 71 T11 Kyle Scott (3) 72 T17 James White (1) 74 T44 Paul Haley (4) 77 T59 Richy Werenski (5) 79
