Georgia, Tech in strong shape for fourth round
Georgia continued with a third day of virtually stain-free golf at the NCAA championships and was rewarded with the top spot on the leaderboard and, due to a suspension of play due to lightning, an early wake-up call.
The Bulldogs will have to return early Monday to complete their third round – five players are spread between the 15th tee and the 18th green. But their play thus far at the Concession Golf Club vaulted them to the top, at 1 over par after shooting 4 under in the third round before play was halted.
Georgia Tech, after shooting 2-over par in its best round of the tournament, is tied for eighth. Barring the Bulldogs losing 25 strokes to par before the end of the third round, Tech and Georgia will both make the 15-team cut and move into Monday’s fourth round. The top eight finishers after four rounds will advance to match play, and the individual champion will also be determined.
“It’d have been nice to be able to get it done and get a good night’s sleep, but a lot of guys are in the same boat we are,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said.
When play ended Sunday, Georgia had recorded just one double bogey on a course laden with pitfalls. The other 29 teams had averaged five scores of double bogey or higher in the round.
Georgia has been solid up and down the lineup – the Bulldogs’ scores through Sunday spanned just five strokes in relation to par, from Mookie DeMoss at 3 under to Sepp Straka at 2 over.
“It’s just one of those things,” sophomore Greyson Sigg said. “We’ve all kind of come together.”
Tech’s experience Sunday was a bit different. Senior Anders Albertson, a two-time ACC champion, struggled through his round, finishing with a 13-over 85, the highest score of his 149-round career. However, sophomore Vince Whaley played outstandingly for the second day in a row, shooting a 4-under 68 to drop to 2-over for the tournament. He is Tech’s low man at 2 under for the tournament, tied for 23rd.
“(We) get to go again (Monday) and be somewhere near the (eight-team cut) number,” coach Bruce Heppler said. “Couldn’t be more happy with what we’ve done, and it’s a team game. Everybody’s contributed and everybody helps.”
All-American Ollie Schniederjans played his best round of the tournament, a 2-under 70 to move to 4-under for the tournament. Taking aim at more pins, Schniederjans birdied five holes, which is as many as he’d had in the first two rounds. He finished his round (started on the 10th tee) by holding out from a bunker for a birdie on the par-4 ninth.
“I played really clean from tee to green, which I haven’t been able to say for a while,” Schniederjans said, “so it was really good. Just adjusted one thing in my set-up and changed one swing thought, and it made a world of difference.”
About the Author
Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.
