FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 1 Oklahoma State liked the setup Saturday morning at Blessings Golf Club -- an early tee time; fresh, receptive greens; and tame wind.
The Cowboys took full advantage of the conditions and their superior depth, flexing their muscles with a team score of 12-under 276 to seize a 12-shot lead over No. 10 Stanford after round two of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships.
"Today I think really was a good example of why you play hard all year, to try to earn one of the top seeds so you get that first tee time like we did," Oklahoma State Coach Alan Bratton said. "Because we got to play seven holes with almost no wind, which was a huge advantage."
Sophomore Matthew Wolff, the No. 1-ranked collegian, tied a course record with a 66 to lead Oklahoma State's charge.
Fellow Cowboys Austin Eckroat, Viktor Hovland and Zach Bauchou all dotted their scorecards with red numbers and finished below par on the 7,550-yard layout at Blessings.
"This is obviously a really good golf course," Wolff said. "I didn't have my best stuff [Friday], but just hung in there and figured something out ... as I played my back nine. I just minimized my mistakes and gave what the course gave me, pretty much. It was really nice to go out there and post a low score and help my team out."
University of Arkansas freshman Julian Perico, who started the day tied for sixth at 1 under, opened his midafternoon round with a double bogey on No. 10 and struggled to a 3-over 75.
Perico is tied for 23rd at 2 over for the tournament with 10 other golfers. He did not return from the ninth green to the clubhouse for interviews after his round.
His playing partners -- Utah's Kyler Dunkle and Western Kentucky's Billy Tom Sargent -- who were also in the top six after round one had mixed results. Dunkle put a 71 behind his 69 from Friday and is tied for fourth at 4 under with Auburn's Jacob Solomon and Stanford's Isaiah Salinda. Sargent carded a 4-over 76 and is tied for 33rd.
The top nine golfers who are not on the 15 advancing teams after today's third round will stay alive for the final round of stroke play Monday, which will determine the individual champion.
Stanford's Henry Shimp is alone in seventh at 2 under, while Arizona State's Chun An Yu is eighth at 1 under. Seven golfers are at even par.
Wolff said he was informed of the course-record effort -- tying the 66s of Arkansas juniors Mason Overstreet and Tyson Reeder from the same tees earlier this year -- shortly after he finished his round.
"That's awesome," Wolff said. "That just shows how hard this course is and with the green complexes with how it runs off and all the hazards and long grass and everything, it's definitely a test of golf, and we have the best amateurs in the world here. To know that ... I tied the course record was pretty pleasing and hopefully I can break it by the end of the week."
The average round was about about 74.8 on Saturday, roughly 2.2 strokes better than Friday's average score of 77.03. Yet only four teams managed to post the first under-par rounds of the championship.
After Oklahoma State's 12 under, Stanford, Texas A&M and Oklahoma turned in 1-under rounds, while Vanderbilt shot even-par 288.
Wolff is tied with California's Collin Morikawa for second place at 5 under because his teammate, the sophomore Eckroat, posted his second consecutive round of 3 under.
"I think [Friday's] round helped me today for sure," Eckroat said. "I did the same things I did in the first round, like making putts, so it helped me shoot low."
Bauchou shot a 71 on Saturday to reach even par, and Hovland had a 2-under 70 to get to 1 over for the tourney.
"Obviously, we killed it as a team," Hovland said. "I didn't get to see much what the other guys were doing, but a lot of birdies and a lot of cheering from the crowd, so that was awesome."
Cal's Morikawa, the first-round leader at 5 under who shot a 72 on Saturday, said he was not surprised to see the Cowboys shoot up the course.
"I know all those guys, and they're good players," Morikawa said. "I think that's kind of what we did [Friday] when I finished my last few holes. There was no wind, and if not it was just helping us. So when you do have the kind of conditions like that you have to take advantage."
Stanford, which trailed the Cowboys by one stroke after the first round, is in sole possession of second place at 2 over, a dozen shots back of Oklahoma State's 10 under.
No. 12 California, two strokes back of the Cowboys after round one, fell back with a 13 over on Saturday to end in a tie for seventh at 17 over.
No. 17 Texas A&M's 1-under 287 was fueled by 2-under rounds from Brandon Smith and Chandler Phillips, who was at 4 under before a double bogey on 17.
The Aggies are at 7 over, three strokes ahead of No. 11 Auburn, with No. 5 Texas (+12) and No. 6 Oklahoma (+16). No. 3 Wake Forest (+17), Cal and Ohio State are in a three-way tie for seventh.
"We really just stuck to the plan," Texas A&M Coach J.T. Higgins said. "It's pretty boring golf. Try to keep the ball in play off the tee and attack with wedges. Everything else is just kind of fat side of the green.
"We've really emphasized putting a lot the last couple of weeks, trying to limit the three-putts. If you don't have penalty shots and you don't have three-putts, it's kind of hard to shoot a bad round."
Sports on 05/26/2019