Matthew Wolff (Oklahoma State Athletics photo)
A pair of Oklahoma State golfers headlined day two of the NCAA Championship on Saturday at Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. Austin Eckroat fired his second consecutive 3-under 69 for a 6-under total to take a one-shot lead over teammate Matthew Wolff and California’s Collin Morikawa.
Behind the sterling play of Eckroat and Wolff, defending national champion Oklahoma State continued its dominance in the 30-team field with a 12-under 276 in Round 2 to stretch its advantage to 12 strokes over second-place Stanford.
Tying the course record, Wolff fired a tournament-low 6-under 66 and sits one shot back of his Cowboy running mate through 36 holes. The sophomore became just the third person to post a 66 at Blessings Golf Club, joining current Arkansas golfers Mason Overstreet and Tyson Reeder, who achieved the mark in qualifying play. Wolff shot up 19 spots on the leaderboard, riding four birdies on the front nine and three more on the back.
“I was incredibly pleased with how I played today, I didn’t have my best round yesterday, but I just hung in there and figured some things out,” Wolff said. “I was able to minimize some mistakes and close some things out. It’s nice to go out there and post a low score to help out my team. I didn’t know I tied the record, so it just shows how hard the course is. Hopefully I can break it by the end of the week.”
Jacob Solomon, of Auburn, posted a 3-under 69 positioning him in a tie for fourth place at 4 under with Isaiah Salinda from Stanford who carded a 2-under 70 on Saturday. Luke Schniederjans of Georgia Tech shot the second-best round of the day firing a 5-under par 67.
Oklahoma State carried a one-shot lead into the second round and was one of the first teams to tee off this morning at 6:50 a.m. The Cowboys took advantage of the cooler, still conditions in the first part of the round to extend the lead.
“We had a really good round today,” said Oklahoma State head coach Alan Bratton. “This is why you play hard all year so you can earn a top seed and get an early tee time. We were out here at 7 a.m., with little to no wind which is a huge advantage out here. This is already a tough course and the wind makes it harder. We took advantage of the lack of wind on the front nine and got some momentum. Our goal is to try to get to know the course better so we’ll get back to it tomorrow and just be ourselves.”
Stanford remains in second place after posting a 1-under team total for Round 2. Texas A&M vaulted two spots up the leaderboard and sits in third place after also shooting a 1-under team total in the second round. Auburn is 10 over for the tournament and positioned in fourth place followed closely by Texas, just two shots behind at 12 over.
ABOUT THE
NCAA Division I Championship
30 teams and 6 individuals not on a qualifying
team make up the field for the championship of
NCAA
Division I women's golf.
After 72 holes of stroke play, the individual
champion is crowned, and the low 8 teams advance
to
match play to determine the team champion.
View Complete Tournament Information