Sooners, Cowboys perched atop Big 12 field after brutal 36 holes
HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Redshirt senior Quade Cummins birdied his final hole of a 36-hole day to power the top-ranked Oklahoma men’s golf team to a solo lead after two rounds at the Big 12 Championship on Monday.
Cummins’ birdie putt, paired with his field-low 67 in the first round of the day, made him one of two players under-par at the par-70 Prairie Dunes Country Club as he shares the 36-hole lead with Oklahoma State’s Bo Jin. The Sooners lead the No. 3 Cowboys by a stroke and No. 6 Texas by seven shots at the championship’s halfway point.
“I played well today and did a good job of not giving away a lot of shots,” Cummins said. “The course is really tough, and the wind obviously takes it to another level, but honestly, I don’t really look at the individual stuff all that much. This week is all about helping the team win a championship and doing whatever I can to help us reach that goal.”
The Sooners posted scores of 291 and 286 to finish the day at 17-over-par with two days and 36 holes of play outstanding at the conference championship. The Sooners’ 32 birdies on the day paced the field and were the difference on Monday as Oklahoma secured one more birdie than Oklahoma State.
Teams battled 40 mph wind gusts for all 36 holes as Prairie Dunes put teams through one of the toughest tests of the season.
“Really proud of the way our guys fought today on a tough course in brutal conditions,” head coach Ryan Hybl said. “We played well enough today to be in a good spot moving forward, but there is a ton of golf left to be played out here. I told the guys that we’ve got to come out tomorrow and reset because we start this whole thing over again.”
Cummins, a three-time All-American, tied with teammate Logan McAllister for a field-high 10 birdies over the 36 holes. His opening-round score of 67 (-3) tied Anthony Kim for the third-lowest Oklahoma round at Prairie Dunes since the tournament was first played at the Perry Maxwell course in 1997. The redshirt senior, who leads the Sooners with 20 top-10 career finishes, is seeking his first individual win.
McAllister joined Cummins inside the top 10 after the junior posted a second-round 69 to hold seventh place entering Tuesday’s third round. The Oklahoma City product tallied six birdies in the afternoon to jump up the leaderboard and put himself in contention for the fourth top-10 finish of his career.
After firing a 6-over 76 in the morning round, Patrick Welch carded a 73 to move into a tie for 16th. The Haskins Watch List honoree opened his afternoon with a clean front nine, sinking eight pars and a birdie to grab a second-round lead for Oklahoma.
Garett Reband sat inside the top 10 following a first-round score of 72, but the All-American dropped into 23rd after carding a 9-over 79 in the afternoon. Redshirt senior Jonathan Brightwell posted a 72 in the second round to steady his day and move up to 41st following 36 holes.
The top-ranked Sooners will tee off with Bedlam foe No. 3 Oklahoma State in Tuesday’s third round starting at 8 a.m. Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com.
Oklahoma State carded the low total of the Big 12 Championship on Monday during its second round to move into second place at Prairie Dunes Country Club.
After opening with a 296, the Cowboys posted a 2-over 282 to close out the 36-hole day one shot off the pace of Oklahoma. With OU at 577 and OSU at 578, Texas held the No. 3 spot at 585 at the par-70, 7,068-yard layout.
OSU’s Bo Jin was one of just two players in the field to finish the day under par, carding a 1-under total of 139 to share the top spot on the leaderboard with OU’s Cummins.
The Cowboy freshman followed an opening 72 with a 3-under 67. Jin started his second round at the 10th where he carded his lone bogey of the nine. He bounced back with a birdie at the 12th before carding another at the 18th to turn in 1-under 34. After adding a birdie at the third, Jin bogeyed the fourth before tacking on his final two birdies of the day at the sixth and seventh.
Jin was joined in the top 10 by junior Austin Eckroat, who rebounded from an opening 76 with a 71 to stand in a tie for 10th place at 147.
Sophomore Aman Gupta shaved eight shots off his opening 78 with a 70 during his second round to move into a tie for 13th place at 148.
Sophomore Eugenio Chacarra and freshman Jonas Baumgartner finished the day tied for 16th place. Chacarra turned in rounds of 75 and 74, while Baumgartner signed for scores of 73 and 76.
The Cowboys will be paired with the Sooners for tomorrow’s third round. They will begin play at 8:00 a.m. Live scoring is available at golfstat.com.
Team Scores
1. Oklahoma—291-286=577
2. Oklahoma State—296-282=578
3. Texas—290-294=584
4. TCU—290-299=589
5. Texas Tech—301-289=590
Individual Scores
T1. Bo Jin, OSU—72-67=139
T10. Austin Eckroat, OSU—76-71=147
T13. Aman Gupta, OSU—78-70=148
T16. Eugenio Chacarra, OSU—75-74=149
T16. Jonas Baumgartner, OSU—73-76=149