The Arkansas men's golf team shot 18-under 270 on Friday and surged into a tie with Oklahoma State for the lead at the NCAA Columbia Regional heading into today's final round.
Senior Sebastian Cappelen and sophomores Taylor Moore and Nicolas Echavarria all shot 5-under 67s and sophomore Kolton Crawford came in at 3-under 69 at The Club at Old Hawthorne in Columbia, Mo.
NCAA Columbia Regional
The Club at Old Hawthorne
Par 72, 7,221 yards
Arkansas;289-270—559 (-17)
Oklahoma State;272-287—559 (-17)
Missouri;281-280—561 (-15)
LSU;289-286—575 (-1)
Arizona State;291-285—576 (E)
Iowa State; 293-286—579 (+3)
San Diego State; 294-288—582 (+6)
Iowa; 291-294—585 (+9)
Virginia; 285-303—588 (+12)
Middle Tennessee; 301-292—593 (+17)
INDIVIDUALS
- Hunter Kraus, Missouri;68-69—137 (-7)
2. Taylor Moore, Arkansas;71-67—138 (-6)
Jordan Niebrugge, Okla. State;65-73—138 (-6)
Max Rottluff, Arizona State;71-67—138 (-6)
Smylie Kaufman, LSU;72-67—139 (-5)
Ryan Zech, Missouri;69-70—139 (-5)
7. Sebastian Cappelen, Arkansa;73-67—140 (-4)
7. Nicolas Echavarria, Arkansas;73-67—140 (-4)
Wyndham Clark, Okla. State;70-70—140 (-4)
Emilio Cuartero, Missouri;70-70—140 (-4)
Talor Gooch, Okla. State;67-73—140 (-4)
ALSO
Kolton Crawford, Arkansas;72-69—141 (-3)
(tie) Pep Angles, Central Arkansas;75-69—144 (E)
(tie) Zach Coats, Arkansas;77-73—150 (+6)
"We have a lot of firepower, and when we're on we're really good," Arkansas Coach Brad McMakin said. "It was actually a lot tougher than yesterday. The wind blew a lot harder, and we knocked it out of the park."
Moore's 5-under round, which featured six birdies and one bogey, left him at 6 under for the tournament and tied for second, one shot behind Missouri's Hunter Kraus.
" We did a good job of getting off to a solid start, settling in and giving ourselves opportunities for birdies," Moore said.
Arkansas had 28 birdies Friday after collecting 12 in the opening round.
"It was just fun seeing so many birdies out there," said Echavarria, who had seven birdies and two bogeys. "We just killed this course, to be honest. Eighteen under is unbelievable."
Arkansas, the region's No. 4 seed, made up 17 strokes on top-seeded Oklahoma State and 10 shots on host Missouri, the eighth seed that is in third place at 15 under. Third-seeded LSU is in fourth at 1 under and Arizona State is fifth at even par. The top five teams advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Hutchinson, Kan.
Cappelen, who had six birdies, and Echavarria are in a five-way tie for seventh place at 4 under, and Crawford in alone in 12th at 3 under.
Central Arkansas' Pep Angles, playing as an individual, shot a 3-under 69 on Friday and is tied for 18th at even-par 144.
Arkansas freshman Zach Coats had a 1-over 73 and is at 6 over, tied for 44th.
Arkansas will be paired with Oklahoma State and Missouri today.
"We've got a chance to win our first regional ever," McMakin said. "We've played Oklahoma State tight throughout the year, so this will be a good prep for the national championship."
Sports on 05/17/2014