Doug Ghim
TRINITY, TX (April 30, 2016) - After rain delayed the start of Saturday's third round at Whispering Pines Golf Club No. 1 Texas went out and once more took care of business. The Longhorns (865) are now 18-holes away from their fourth consecutive Big 12 Championship. They will carry a seven-stroke lead into the final round over No. 6 Oklahoma State (872) in second place and third place Texas Tech (874).
Texas has displayed its depth throughout the first 54-holes of play this weekend and presently has four players inside the top-12 of the individual standings. Sophomore Doug Ghim (-3) is in fifth and leading the way for Texas. Ghim was 2-over after the first two days of tournament play but fired a third round 5-under 67 to move up the leaderboard. On the day Ghim birdied seven holes and bogeyed two others.
In one of the more surprising developments of the day junior Beau Hossler dropped from a first place tie to sixth after a third round even-par 72. Hossler is still in the mix just four-strokes behind in the medalist race. Sophomore's Gavin Hall (+3) is in 11th and Scottie Scheffler (+4) is tied for 12th.
In the medalist race first round co-leader Paul Barjon has created a bit of a gap between him and the rest of the field and leads by two-strokes. Barjon is 6-under with scores of 69-73-68. The TCU senior played bogey-free golf during his 4-under third round that included four birdies. Barjon is in search of his third win of the season and first Big 12 title.
Three players are tied for second at 4-under while Ghim and Hossler are in fifth and sixth place respectively. Only six players will begin tomorrow's final round under-par.
36-HOLE RECAP
The No. 1 team in the country and three-time defending Big 12 champion Texas Longhorns (585) have jumped out to a seven-stroke lead following 36-holes of play on the first day of the Big 12 Championship. No. 6 Oklahoma State (592) is currently in second place and Texas Tech (593) is in third.
Texas is being led at Whispering Pines Golf Club by their junior star and second round co-leader Beau Hossler (-2). In the first round of the day Hossler shot an even-par 72 before posting 2-under 70 in the second round. Hossler, winner of five medalist honors already this year, birdied five holes and bogeyed three during the second round. The five medalist honors are second most in Texas program history.
The Longhorns presently have two other players in the top-five of the individual standings with sophomore's Doug Ghim and Scottie Scheffler tied for fifth at 2-over. Junior Gavin Hall is tied for 15th and is currently 7-over.
Joining Hossler at the top of the medalist leaderboard is TCU senior Paul Barjon (-2) after rounds of 69-73. Barjon is in search of his third win of the year and was well on his way to leading on his own following the first day of Big 12 Championship play until he reached the 13th hole during his second round.
When Barjon reached the 13th tee he sat at 4-under. However, seemingly out of nowhere Barjon triple-bogeyed the hole to drop back to 1-under. He did well to bounce back with a birdie on No. 17.
Oklahoma State redshirt sophomore Stratton Nolen (E) is in third while Kansas State freshman Jeremy Gandon (+1) is in fourth. The Texas couple of Ghim and Scheffler round out the top-five.
The Big 12 Championship will continue tomorrow with the third round and conclude on Sunday with the final 18-holes of play.
ABOUT THE
Big 12 Championship
72 hole men's collegiate championship of the Big
12 Conference. Team (best four scores out of five
players each round) and individual competitions.
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