Jay Kirchdorfer Fires Career-Low Round on Day Two
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Jay Kirchdorfer produced a career-low round of 70 and moved into the top 20 of the individual leaderboard during the second day at the NCAA Columbus Regional at the Ohio State Golf Club on Tuesday. Kentucky heads into Wednesday’s final round in 11th overall and nine shots back of a top-five finish.
No. 2 Oklahoma State and No. 11 Georgia Tech finished the second round tied at 7-under par for the team lead. Ohio State is third at 6-over par for the tournament. No. 23 Clemson (+7) and East Tennessee State (+8) round out the top five. Kentucky is in 11th and is a combined 17-over par.
The final round begins at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. Five teams will move on as a part of the NCAA Championship field of 30 as well as the top individual not among the advancing teams. Live stats are available via golfstat.com.
UK will be paired alongside Wright State and Florida Gulf Coast for the final round on Wednesday. The Cats will tee off from the No. 10 beginning at 8:25 a.m. ET.
Kentucky began the day off the first tee box. Kirchdorfer made par on each of his first two holes before suffering a double-bogey at the par-four third. The Louisville, Kentucky native settled in and made par on each of the next five holes. A birdie at the par-four ninth gave him some momentum as he made the turn. Kirchdorfer made par on the next two holes before generating back-to-back birdies at the 12th and 13th. He offset a bogey at the 14th with another birdie at the 15th. Kirchdorfer earned par on the final three holes to finish the day with a 1-under 70 earning a new career-low round. He previously had charted a 71 on four different occasions. Kirchdorfer’s spectacular round pushed him into a tie for 20th on the individual leaderboard. It would mark the first such finish of the season and the second of his career.
Garrett Wood is tied for 10th following a 1-over-par 72. Wood played the front nine at 2-over par but rebounded on the back nine with birdies at the 11th and 18th. He’s even par for the tournament and in the hunt for his fourth top-10 finish of the season and the eighth of his career.
Alex Goff fired a round of 74 and is tied for 31st through two rounds. Jacob Cook and Campbell Kremer both generated rounds of 75 during Tuesday’s action. Kremer picked up some positive momentum at the end of the round as he played even par over his final nine holes. Cook is tied for 67th overall and Kremer is tied for 71st.
The NCAA Regional field is comprised of 81 teams and 45 individuals and will compete in six regional sites, May 16-18 (13 teams and 10 individuals at three regionals and 14 teams and five individuals at three regionals). Thirty teams and six individuals will advance from regional sites to the National Championship to be played May 27-June 1 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The six regional sites include Jimmie Austin Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma, hosted by Oklahoma, Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M, Ohio State Golf Club (Scarlet) in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by Ohio State, The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, California, hosted by Pacific and Visit Stockton, Yale Golf Club in New Haven Connecticut, hosted by Yale, and the PGA National (Champions) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, hosted by Florida Atlantic and the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.
The Ohio State Golf Club’s Scarlett course opened in 1938. It was designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie, a world-renowned golf course architect, and the course is considered one of the best collegiate courses in the nation.
For the latest on the Kentucky men’s golf team, follow @UKMensGolf on Twitter and on the web at UKathletics.com.
