May 28, 2009

NOTE: Results are as of Thursday night with incomplete rounds for 10 groups. Official results will be announced on Friday after the completion of stroke play. Hill and Stanley will finish one-two as the closest player remaining in the field is 10 and eight strokes back, respectively.

Hill Closes Final Round in Lead at NCAA

NC State sophomore Matt Hill is the clubhouse leader at 6-under (207) at the 112th NCAA Championships being held at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

Due to Wednesday’s rain delay, not all the golfers will complete their third and final round by Thursday evening, as the last group did not tee off until 4:45 p.m. Therefore the individual medalist honors will not be officially declared until Friday when all golfers have officially completed their third round.

When Hill finished his round at approximately 5 p.m. Thursday, there were three golfers early in their final rounds at even-par for the tournament. All three of those golfers would have to shoot a 65 or better to catch Hill.

If Hill's lead holds on for the victory, he would be NC State's third individual NCAA championship this spring and the 29th in school history. In March, wrestler Darrion Caldwell and platform diver Kristin Davies each won individual titles in their respective sports. It would be the first time with more than two individual titles in the same academic year since 1993 and only the third time in school history.

For the third straight round, Hill shot a two-under 69 on Thursday. He was the only golfer to shoot each of his three rounds at 2-under or better, as every other golfer recorded at least one score in the 70s.

Hill started the final round today on Hole No. 10 at 11:55 a.m. He parred his first five holes, then made birdie on the par-4 15th hole. He followed with a bogey on No. 16, and trailed TCU golfer Tom Hoge by two strokes at the turn.

He vaulted into the lead with birdies on Nos. 2 and 5, both par-4s, while his primary competition, Hoge, made back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 5 and 6. Hill made bogey on No. 7, dropping his lead down to one stroke. But he quickly regained his two-stroke advantage with a birdie on the par-5 eighth hole. It is the same hole he eagled on Wednesday to jump to the top of the leaderboard.

Hill, owning a two-stroke lead on the field, was 2-under on his final nine holes. Hill was consistant throughout the three rounds, as he went two-under on Holes 1-9 in all three rounds (finishing on the holes in rounds two and three), and he was at even-par on all three rounds on Holes 10-18.

Hill spent Thursday battling Clemson’s Kyle Stanley, who entered the day as the nation's top-ranked golfer while Hill was ranked No. 2. They played in the same threesome in the final round, with Stanley finishing his round alone in second place at 4-under-par.

Stanley Finishes Second at NCAA Tournament

Clemson All-American Kyle Stanley completed his collegiate career in grand style on Thursday with a five under par round of 66 at the NCAA golf championship at Inverness in Toledo, OH. Stanley finished with a 54-hole total of four under par 209, good enough for second place all alone and just two shots off the figure posted by NC State's Matt Hill, the individual champion.

It was the third top 10 finish for Stanley in his Clemson career. He finished second in 2007, seventh last year and second this year. He is the first Clemson golfer in history to record three top 10 finishes at the NCAA Championship. He concludes his career with a 70.7 stroke average for 11 NCAA national tournament rounds, the best in Clemson history.

Stanley's round of 66 tied for his season best and his five under par score tied for his best versus par in an NCAA Tournament round. He had a five under par 65 in the 2007 national tournament. It was also the lowest score in Clemson history for a Tiger golfer in his final career round.

Stanley will turn professional after the United States Open and is slated to make his professional debut on the PGA Tour through a sponsor's exemption in the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT on June 25. He will also play in the John Deere Classic in July.

Stanley's round included six birdies and one bogey. He made six birdie putts, all from 3-20 feet. He reached 16 of the 18 greens in regulation. "I hit the ball much better on my approach shots with my irons today and that was the key," said Stanley, who will be named a first-team All-American for the second time in his Clemson career.

GT Golfers Fall Short at NCAA Championship

David Dragoo fired a 3-under-par 68 in his final collegiate round in an effort to carry Georgia Tech, but the Yellow Jackets fell short of qualifying for match play Thursday, tying for 10th place after 54 holes at the NCAA Men's Division I Golf Championship.

The 8th-ranked Yellow Jackets shot 4-over-par 288 Thursday to finish four shots out of eighth place. The top eight teams will be seeded in a match-play bracket, with the quarterfinals set to begin Friday morning.

The Yellow Jackets drew within two shots of the seventh-place Aggies and Bulldogs at one point in their back nine Thursday, but gave three shots back in the closing holes.

Duke 14th
story to follow

Wake Forest T23 thru 13
story to follow

Virginia T26 thru 15
story to follow