North Carolina maintains lead at Southern Highlands Collegiate
Yuxin Lin (Florida Athletics photo)
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.
ABOUT THE Southern Highlands Collegiate
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by UNLV.
Team (best four scores of five players each day) and
individual competitions.
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