Frogs lost ground today in Austin, but they are still in good shape to advance to nationals. Starting the day they were 10 shots clear of the sixth-place team; ending the day they are 6 shots ahead of sixth.
In between, things were really shaky, as the Frogs went +12 on the front nine. For reference they lost 18 shots to Texas and 7 to their other playing partner, Pepperdine. Meanwhile, teams in the chasing group (Iowa, USC) were tearing it up, having started on the easier back nine. The Frogs fought back to go -4 on the back, posting +8 for the day and +4 for the tournament (fourth place).
Texas essentially won the tournament on the front nine today, but UT was always expected to advance on its home course, so losing touch with the Horns was no great concern.
The bigger issue is the other top-six seeds. Among those, Clemson went from 4 down to 4 up on the Frogs; TCU lost 1-4 shots to the others.
Frogs are a shot up on Arkansas, which is holding on to the last qualifying spot, five shots ahead of 2-seed USC. The only other school within striking distance is Iowa. As a top-10 team with a candidate for player of the year, USC is the most likely team to make a run. But if they do, here's hoping that the Frogs stay ahead of Arkansas, which is set to
host nationals in two weeks; Blessings Golf Club owner John Tyson is
offering free tickets to the public, and it will be a much calmer atmosphere for the players if the Hogs are not in the field.
With TCU's top two players shooting 77 and 80, the Frogs needed help from deeper in the lineup, and Coach Montigel's decision to start Turner Maclean paid off today. Maclean shot a 1-under 70, and that plus steady Stefano Mazzoli's 69 helped limit the damage. Mazzoli is T7 individually at -2, just two back of the tournament lead. Maclean is T15 at +1. There are 20 or more players who could win the tournament going into the last day.
-16 Texas
E Pepperdine
E Clemson
+4 TCU
+5 Arkansas
+10 USC
+12 Iowa
7 teams at +19 or worse