May 18, 2012
Complete results/Final-round Tee Times/Live Scoring
Norman, Okla. – Freshman Ollie Schniederjans shot a 3-under-par 69, and 9th-ranked Georgia Tech posted a second-round score of 286 (-2) to move into fifth place after 36 holes at the NCAA Southwest Regional. The Yellow Jackets have a three-shot edge over sixth place heading into Saturday’s final round.
The Atlantic Coast Conference champion Yellow Jackets, the No. 2 seed in the Norman Regional, also got a 1-under-par 71 from Richard Werenski, a 72 from Bo Andrews and a 74 from All-American James White in rising from eighth position after 18 holes. The top five finishers out of the 14 competing teams will advance to the NCAA Championship finals, which begin May 29 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The top five seeds in the regional occupy the top five positions, though not in seed order, with one round to play, and the top six teams, including host Oklahoma in sixth, are all within 12 shots. Washington, the third seed and ranked 13th nationally, made the biggest move Friday with a 7-under-par score of 281, taking a four-shot lead over 23rd-ranked Florida State. The Huskies finished 36 holes with a 9-under-par total of 567.
The Seminoles shot 292 Friday and grabbed second place at 571 (-5), followed by Texas (572, -4), who shot 293. Big Ten champion Illinois is in fourth at 575 (-1) after posting 291 for the round, followed by Tech at 576 (E) and the Sooners (579, +3), who shot 292 Friday.
“They hung in there today and played a very solid round,” said head coach Bruce Heppler, whose team was the only one besides Washington to break par Friday. “Richy had a great nine holes on the front. Ollie played pretty well, left a couple putts close, but was very solid. We got a little break with the wind today because we teed off first on the back nine, and we’ll be off ahead of the leaders tomorrow as well, so we may get another break there.”
Schniederjans has posted a 36-hole total of 141 (-3) in his first career NCAA competition, and is in a tie for fifth place individually with Washington’s Chris Williams. Illinois’ Thomas Pieters shot a 69 Friday to go with an opening 68 and grabbed the individual lead at 137 (-7), one stroke better than Florida State freshman Daniel Berger (-6), who also shot 69 Friday. Jonathan De Los Reye of St. Mary’s (68 Friday) is in third place at 139 (-5), followed by Washington’s Cheng-Tsung Pan (-4).
White, the 2012 Byron Nelson Award winner who shot an opening 69 Thursday, is in a three-way tie for 10th place at 1-under 143 with Jordan Spieth and Julio Vegas of Texas.
Bo Andrews is tied for 23rd at 147, while Werenski moved up to a tie for 28th at 148. Anders Albertson, who shot 76 Friday, is tied for 36th at 150.
Tech has advanced through an NCAA regional 20 times in 21 regional appearances going back to 1989, when the NCAA instituted the format. Heppler’s Tech teams have won two regionals outright, in 1998 in Daufuskie Island, S.C., and 1999 in Providence, R.I., and shared the 2002 title with Clemson in Roswell, Ga.
Friday’s second round begins at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time. Tech tees off first on No. 1 along with Illinois and Oklahoma at 8:50 a.m.
NCAA SOUTHWEST REGIONALJimmie Austin OU Golf Club, Norman, Okla.36-hole Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Washington 286 281 567 -9 2 Florida State 279 292 571 -5 3 Texas 279 293 572 -4 4 Illinois 284 291 575 -1 5 Georgia Tech 290 286 576 E 6 Oklahoma 287 292 579 +3 7 St. Mary’s (CA) 286 302 588 +12 8 South Carolina 294 302 596 +20 9 Sacramento State 292 307 599 +23 10 Arizona 289 311 600 +24 11 San Diego 303 299 602 +26 12 IUPUI 297 307 604 +28 13 Middle Tennessee St. 304 316 620 +44 14 Loyola U.- Chicago 307 314 621 +45
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Thomas Pieters Illinois 68 69 137 -7 2 Daniel Berger Florida State 69 69 138 -6 3 Jonathan De Los Reye St. Mary’s (CA) 71 68 139 -5 4 Cheng-Tsung Pan Washington 69 71 140 -4 T5 Ollie Schniederjans Georgia Tech 72 69 141 -3 T5 Chris Williams Washington 73 68 141 -3 T7 Charlie Hughes Washington 74 68 142 -2 T7 Luke Guthrie Illinois 69 73 142 -2 T7 Brooks Koepka Florida State 67 75 142 -2 T10 James White Georgia Tech 69 74 143 -1 T10 Julio Vegas Texas 72 71 143 -1 T10 Jordan Spieth Texas 66 77 143 -1
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T5 Ollie Schniederjans (5) 72 69 141 T10 James White (1) 69 74 143 T23 Bo Andrews (4) 75 72 147 T28 Richy Werenski (3) 77 71 148 T36 Anders Albertson (2) 74 76 150
