The good news is the Oregon men’s golf team shot better on Tuesday than its disappointing second round on Monday at the Pacific-10 Golf Championships at the Eugene Country Club.
The problem is, so did everybody else.
Despite shaving four strokes off of their score from Monday afternoon, the Ducks slipped from sixth place into 10th heading into the final round tomorrow. Six other teams in the field also bested their second-round scores. One of the exceptions was USC, which is running away with the tournament. The Trojans have an almost insurmountable 23-shot lead over their cross-town rival, UCLA. After being tied with Oregon after the first round on Monday, USC shot a torrid 33 under par in the next 36 holes. USC’s Jamie Lovemark holds the individual lead at 14 under par.
The Ducks began the day hoping to shake off their struggles from Monday afternoon. Once again, early results were encouraging for the home team. Derek Sipe and Marcus Sostak each birdied the first hole of the round. Sipe, who was tied for the tournament lead with Lovemark after the first round of the tournament, also birdied the sixth hole only to have that good work undone by bogeys on 7 and 9. The back nine also evened out, making a par score for the day.
“I need to putt better. It gets me into some trouble,” Sipe said. “I missed a couple putts I thought I should have made, and that makes it tough to keep the momentum.”
Sostak lost the momentum from his opening birdie thanks to a bogey just before the turn. But the freshman ended his round on a high note, carding two birdies in the last four holes. The two-under 70 was Oregon’s best score on Tuesday and allowed Sostak to move up 15 places into a tie for 28th.
“I played alright. I didn’t hit the ball that well, but I putted a little better,” Sostak said. “I hope to hit the ball a little better [tomorrow] and go low.”
Senior Matt Ma suffered two early double bogeys, but played well for the rest of the round, finishing at three over for the day. Junior Joey Benedetti shot a 76, and Eric Hastings and Zeke Reyna each had a five over round on Tuesday.
The final round tomorrow will likely be anti-climatic because of the domination by the Trojans. Out of 18 team rounds played so far, USC has only five rounds over par, and no Trojan has more than one. In the reverse of Oregon’s tournament, USC took off Monday afternoon and never looked back. Lovemark, the No. 5 player in the nation, led the charge with scores of 69, 66 and 67 in the first three rounds. Lovemark doesn’t even have a blemish on his scorecard, playing those 54 holes without a bogey.
“I know that everyone says it, but I just have to take it one shot at a time and not try to look ahead to the next hole. As long as I play how I know I can, I will win,” Lovemark said.
The Ducks, meanwhile, will try to salvage what they can and get out of the cellar.
“We got off to a good start and we did not finish it,” Oregon coach Casey Martin said. “I’m glad there’s one day left.”
Women’s Golf
The Oregon women’s golf team knocked a few strokes off its rough Monday score to hang on to ninth place at the Pac-10 Women’s Golf Championships at the Broadmoor Golf Course in Seattle. The Ducks closed the distance to eighth-place Washington State by two strokes, putting Oregon five strokes back of the Cougars in advance of the final round tomorrow. Arizona State retained its overall lead, which now stands at seven shots over UCLA. At four under, Arizona State’s Anna Nordqvist is the only player in the 50-player field currently under par.
Cathryn Bristow and Kate Hildahl led the Ducks on Tuesday with 78s. Bristow jumped up five spots on the leaderboard to enter the last 18 holes tied for 12th place. Freshman Felicia Eastick and senior Kim McCready each shot 80 in the second round. Hildahl improved her first round effort by 17 strokes. Victoria Wenslow carded an 83 for the day, but her round wasn’t added to the team total.