Sooners lead by just two in Norman Regional

NORMAN – The No. 4 Oklahoma men’s golf team maintained its lead Tuesday during the second round of the NCAA Norman Regional, holding a two-shot advantage heading into the final round. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is taking place at the par-72, 7,452-yard Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.

OU posted a 284 (-4) during Tuesday’s second round and remains in first place with a team score of 567 (-9) through 36 holes. Pepperdine is in second place at 569 (-7) overall and posted the lowest round of the day at 272 (-12). North Florida is third with a two-day 571 (-5), while Auburn and BYU share fourth at 573 (-3).

Tuesday’s round was delayed for nearly two hours due to rain and lightning in the Norman with the Sooners one hole away from completing their round.

The regional is one of six 54-hole preliminary events for the NCAA Championship finals. The low five teams and low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championship, scheduled for May 25-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

“We had five guys that didn’t shoot over par, pretty similar to yesterday,” OU head coach Ryan Hybl said. “On paper, it looks good but I know our guys are going to be disappointed. We kind of had a really good round going and we finished terribly. We are going to have to go back to the drawing board and come back out fighting again tomorrow.”

Junior Blaine Hale continued to pace the Sooners individually, carding a 69 (-3) during the second round. The junior remains in first place on the individual leaderboard with a two-round score of 136 (-8). Hale carded five birdies during Tuesday’s round.

“Played really good. Made one bad swing over on No. 12, but other than that just like yesterday, played really solid. Made a few putts but looking to make more tomorrow,” Hale said after the round.

Redshirt sophomore Quade Cummins finished with an even-par 72 to bring his 36-hole total to 141 (-3). Cummins is tied for seventh place heading into the final round.

Sophomore Garrett Reband is currently tied for 14th place. Reband shot 71 (-1) on Tuesday to bring his two-day total to 143 (-1). After making par on all 18 holes Monday, the sophomore picked up two more pars to begin his round before carding three birdies on the front nine.

Senior Grant Hirschman and junior Brad Dalke hold a share of 37th place with a 36-hole 147 (+3), both finishing with an even-par 72 during Tuesday’s round.

Wednesday’s final round will begin at 7:30 a.m. CT on hole No. 1. OU will be paired with North Florida and Pepperdine for the third round.

Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com.