North Carolina maintains lead at Southern Highlands Collegiate

February 27, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Yuxin Lin (Florida Athletics photo)

Tar Heels will take a four-shot lead into final round while UNC's Austin Greaser and Florida's Yuxin Lin are tied for the lead

North Carolina maintained its lead at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas on Monday but the defending NCAA Champions Texas Longhorns took a bite out of the Tar Heels lead by firing an 11-under round to close within four strokes heading into Tuesday's final round.

Pepperdine is eight back at 12-under followed by Illinois (-10) and Oklahoma (-6).

Tar Heel senior Austin Greaser and Florida's Yuxin Lin remain tied atop of the individual leaderboard at 10-under 134 after the players again matched scores with rounds of 1-under 70 on Monday. Sam Choi of Pepperdine, who had a share of the first-round lead, is just one back at 9-under 135, along with Texas freshman Christiaan Maas, who turned in a 2-under round of 69 to move into a tie for third.

The individual champion will receive an exemption into the Shriners Children's Open, which will take place Oct. 12-15, 2023, at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.

Maas was one of four Longhorns to turn in subpar rounds on Monday. Brian Stark, a fifth-year senior who previously played for Big 12 rival Oklahoma State, turned in a 3-under 68 while freshmen Keaton Vo and Jacob Sosa finished at 1-under 70.

The low rounds of the day belonged to Patrick Welch of Oklahoma and Tommy Kuhl of Illinois, who both carded 4-under 67s. Welsh moved six spots up the leaderboard into fifth place at 8-under while Kuhl is tied for eighth at 5-under.

If North Carolina is to win its fourth tournament of the year, the third-ranked Tar Heels will have to fend off a red-hot Texas team that features three freshmen and two seniors in its lineup. The two teams will be paired with Pepperdine in Tuesday's final round.

Results: Southern Highlands Collegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Yuxin Lin	, China	800	64-70-69=203
2	Christiaan Maas	, South Africa	500	66-69-71=206
T3	Tommy Kuhl	Morton, IL	400	72-67-68=207
T3	William Paysse	Belton, TX	400	69-69-69=207
T5	William Mouw	Chino, CA	400	72-71-65=208