FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks maintained their sizzling pace on Tuesday, firing a 17-under 271 to keep a huge lead after the second round of the NCAA Salem (S.C.) Regional.
The University of Arkansas is at 39 under heading into the final round of the 54-hole regional at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, the 7,126-yard venue hosted by Clemson.
The No. 35 Razorbacks lead No. 11 Georgia Tech, which fired a 22-under on Tuesday, by 7 strokes.
No. 2 North Carolina and New Mexico are tied for third at 25 under, followed by Northern Illinois (-23).
No. 14 Texas A&M, the stroke play runner-up at the SEC Championships, is in ninth place at 12 under. The Aggies are 11 shots behind the cut line and also trailing No. 26 Georgia Southern (-18) and Clemson (-15), and tied with No. 23 San Diego State.
The Razorbacks put four players in the 60s for the second consecutive day and each of their five players shot under par. Senior Segundo Oliva Pinto and led the way again, firing a 6-under 67 to surge into second place at 12 under, a stroke behind North Carolina’s Ryan Burnett.
Pinto, the SEC individual champion in 2021, posted birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 11, 15 and 16 during his bogey-free round.
Arkansas had 16 birdies on its front 9, including 5 each from seniors Julian Perico and Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira. There were 15 more on the back 9 to take over the birdie lead at 57 through 36 holes.
The Razorbacks are leading the field on the par 3s (-1), and are second on the par 4s (-15) and the par 5s (-21).
Perico, the Hogs’ non-counter Monday, had 7 birdies en route to a 5-under 67 to reach 2 under for the tourney. Fernandez de Oliveira carded 6 straight birdies on Nos. 5-10 en route to a 68. He’s tied for ninth at 7 under.
Senior Wil Gibson of Jonesboro notched 5 birdies, including 3 in a row to end his round to catapult him to a 69 on the day and a tie for third place at 10 under.
Sophomore Manuel Lozada had a team-high 4 bogeys and a double, but he balanced that with 7 birdies, matching Gibson’s feat of 3 in a row on Nos. 16-18 and wound up at 71. He’s at 6 under for the tournament and tied for 14th.