June 3, 2010

NCAA Championships Final Results (Stroke Play) in PDF Format

OOLETWAH, Tenn. - Baylor's season came to an end Thursday when the Bears missed the cut with a 25th-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Men's Golf Championships at The Honors Course.

When play was suspended due to darkness late Wednesday, the Bears were tied for 20th with five holes remaining in their second round. After play resumed, Baylor entered Thursday's find round of stroke play tied for 22nd with Tennessee, Illinois and defending national champion Texas A&M. The Bears (294-295-295=884) finished stroke play knotted with Tennessee (297-292-295=884) for 25th place at 20-over par.

"Honestly, we didn't finish where we wanted," Baylor head men's golf coach Greg Priest said. "I'm proud of what the guys accomplished by making it to the NCAA Championships. We got off to a bad start Thursday and battled back, but our team is young and we were facing a tough course.

"Yeah, we finished 25th, but we made it here and it's a great accomplishment for this team. Only five teams in school history have ever made it to this point and that is something to be proud of and build upon for next season."

Advancing to match play are Oklahoma State, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Washington, Oregon, Augusta State and Texas Tech. A three-way playoff between Stanford, Arizona State and San Diego for the eighth - and final - spot in match play will commence Friday at 7 a.m. CDT. The Big 12 champion Cowboys won the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.

Illinois' Scott Langley shot 4-under during Thursday's final round to claim the NCAA individual crown with a final tally of 10-under (70-68-68=206). In all, 33 golfers, including eight from the Big 12, finished stroke play under par. Among those eight Big 12 golfers under par was Baylor sophomore Lorenzo Scotto, who tied for 25th at 1-under (76-69-70=215). After opening the NCAA Championships with a first-round 76, Scotto reeled off two consecutive sub-par rounds.

"No question the weather delay Wednesday and the early start Thursday had an effect on us," Priest said. "Holes No. 7, 8 and 9 are the hardest ones and that's where we had to start (to finish the second round).

"We struggled on the back nine, played well on the front and started to gain momentum, but then play was stopped because of the weather," Priest said. "But that's part of the game and you have to overcome it."

Freshman Ryan O'Rear, who was tied for third overall through the first 18 holes, finished 90th with a 7-over 223. Juniors Payne Gniewek and Cody Paladino carded matching final-round scores of 74 to tie for 95th at 8-over 224. GCAA/PING All-Central Region selection Joakim Mikkelsen finished 135th at 14-over. Mikkelsen's performance marked only the third time this season he failed to record at least one round of par or better in a tournament.

Baylor, which advanced to the NCAA Championships for just the fifth time in school history (1960, 1966, 1967, 2002, 2010) and first under Priest, posted top-five finishes in seven of its 14 tournaments this season. The Bears' fifth-place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional last month in Bryan, Texas, was its best regional finish in program history.

NCAA MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS
Team Results

Baylor Individual Results