Arkansas slips back two spots

Third-place Hogs trail by three shots

Arkansas freshman Charles Kim led the Razorbacks with a 2-under 68 in the second round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday, May 28, 2016, in Eugene, Ore.

The No. 21 Arkansas golf team shot a 4-over par 284 on Saturday to fall two places to third place after the second round of the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore.

The Razorbacks, who were tied for the lead after the opening round, are 6 over and trail only No. 8 Vanderbilt, which shot even par and leads the 30-team field at 3 over, and No. 3 Southern California (+5).

Host Oregon was the day's biggest mover with a tournament-low 3-under round to improve 15 spots into a tie for fourth place with defending NCAA champion LSU at 8 over. Alabama is in sixth place at 9 over.

The field will be narrowed to 15 teams after today's third round of stroke play and to eight teams for match play after Monday's round.

Freshman Charles Kim led the Razorbacks with a 2-under 68, while senior Taylor Moore, who was under par most of the round, bogeyed three of his last five holes and finished with at even-par 70. Moore is tied for 14th in the medalist race.

Senior Kolton Crawford followed his 68 on Friday with a 3-over 73 and is tied with Kim at 1 over in 24th place. Sophomore Alvaro Ortiz came in at 3 over and is 5 over for the tournament, while senior Nicolas Echavarria is at 7 over for the tournament after a birdie-free 5 over.

"I'm really happy with our play as a team," Arkansas Coach Brad McMakin said. "We've had some great individual rounds. I'm very pleased with the way the whole team is playing. I don't think we've counted a score over 73, which is really good out here because this golf course is hard and tight.

"We just have to focus on coming out tomorrow and doing what we're doing, keeping the ball in the fairway."

Justin Suh of Southern California fired a 3 under Saturday to take sole possession of first place at 5 under, one shot ahead of Alabama's Robby Shelton and San Diego State's Nahum Mendoza III.

TCU, the co-leader with Arkansas on Friday, fell well off the pace. The Horned Frogs were at 20 over for the round, 22 over for the tournament, with two holes remaining to complete their late Saturday round.

The day's biggest movers included the No. 20 Ducks, No. 17 Alabama, No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Illinois and Louisville. The Crimson Tide had a 1 under on Saturday, joining Oregon as the only teams in the field to shoot a sub-par round. The Illini fired an even par 280 and moved up four spots into a tie for seventh with the Longhorns, who shot 1 over on the day and are at 10 over.

No. 1 Stanford is in trouble after a 14 over dropped the Cardinal to +26 for the tournament, 12 shots out of the top 15.

Also Saturday, Austin Eoff of Benton shot a 7-over 77 to slip to 15 over for Purdue which stands last in the 30-team field at 44-over-299. Eoff won last year's Arkansas State Golf Association championship at Little Rock Country Club.

Sports on 05/29/2016