May 28, 2016
Matt Gilchrest continues to lead the Tigers as he is tied for 15th at even par after the NCAA Championship second round
EUGENE, Ore. - No. 9 Auburn men's golf fired a 1-over 281 and climbed 12 spots and is in a five-way tie for 15th after the NCAA Championship second round on Saturday at the Eugene (Ore.) Country Club.
Auburn is only five shots out of the top eight. The 30-team field is cut to 15 teams after three rounds and to eight after the fourth round followed by match play.
All-SEC Matt Gilchrest led the Tigers with a second round 1-under 69 and is tied for 15th at even par 140. All-SEC Michael Johnson (74-70-144) and Freshman All-SEC Jacob Solomon (73-71-144) are tied for 53rd while Will Long (78-71-149) is tied for 109th and All-American Ben Schlottman (76-74-150) is tied for 119th.
The Tigers were 9-under on the day and in fifth after the front nine but lost ground on the tougher back. On the front, Gilchrest birdied four of the first six holes to get to 4-under, Solomon had three straight birdies on Nos. 2-5 while Johnson and Long both turned at 1-under. Johnson had three straight birdies on Nos. 8-10 while Long eagled the par-5 4th and birdied the eighth.
"If someone had told me this morning that we would have shot 1-over, I would have been happy," said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. "We had it going there. We have a lot of firepower with these five guys. We had it to 9-under on the easier side, but we made some bad swings.
On 14, we had two guys go in the water, and we made a double and a bogey with sand wedges and wedges in our hand from the middle of the fairway which is not acceptable. We are right there. I think we are in good shape, play well tomorrow and see what happens."
No. 8 Vanderbilt leads at 3-over 283-280-563 followed by No. 3 Southern California (283-282-565), No. 21 Arkansas (282-284-566), No. 20 Oregon (291-277-568), No. 12 LSU (286-282-568), No. 17 Alabama (290-279-569), No. 2 Texas (289-281-570), No. 4 Illinois (290-280-570), Arizona State (290-281-571), California (287-284-571), No. 19 South Carolina (287-285-572), No. 16 Florida (286-287-573), Louisville (291-282-573) and No. 5 Oklahoma State (285-289-574).
No. 9 Auburn is tied for 15th with Kentucky (289-286-575), No. 6 Georgia (291-284-575), No. 10 Clemson (291-284-575) and No. 22 San Diego State (283-292-575).
"I think it just shows that we can play this golf course," said Clinard. "It is just our typical first rounds that have killed us, but our second and final rounds have been fantastic. I expect us to come ready to play tomorrow."
No. 14 Wake Forest (289-289-578) and No. 18 Oklahoma (290-288-578) are tied for 20th ahead of No. 13 Florida State (285-294-579), TCU (282-299-581), Houston (296-287-583), No. 15 South Florida (291-294-585), No. 1 Stanford (292-294-586), No. 23 Virginia (292-294-586), Baylor (293-296-589), UAB (294-305-599) and Purdue (299-305-604).
Southern California's Justin Suh leads at 5-under 68-67-135, one shot ahead of Alabama's Robby Shelton (70-66-136) and San Diego State's (67-69-136).
Auburn will tee off in Sunday's third round off No. 1 at 2:22 pm CT with Georgia and Clemson.
Finals play for the 30-team field will consist of three days of stroke play, after which the top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team will be determined. That is followed by a final day of 18 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine the top eight teams that will advance to match play as well as the 72-hole individual champion.
The team national champion will be determined by a match-play format that will consist of quarterfinals and semifinals conducted on Tuesday, followed by the finals on June 1. The Golf Channel will televise the NCAA Championship from Monday through Wednesday.
Live-scoring of the NCAA Championship is at www.golfstat.com.