Texas Tech Athletics
NCAA Championship
Floren Posts Second Under-Par Round
June 01, 2007 | Men's Golf
June 1, 2007
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Oscar Floren turned in a two-under 68 in the third round of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships, marking the end to one of the most illustrious careers in Texas Tech golf history. The Red Raiders, who entered the day in last place, missed the cut Friday and finished in 28th place ahead of New Mexico and Auburn.
Floren's back-to-back sub-par rounds unfortunately were grouped with a first-round 74 which kept Floren out of the final round as an individual by three strokes. Nevertheless, Floren will go down as one of the greatest golfers in Texas Tech annals.
"I know some other guys have won conference championships and reached All-America status, but Oscar's going to be a two-time All-American and is the first guy to be first team," Tech Head Coach Greg Sands said, referring to Floren's PING All-America First Team honor last season. "I may be biased, but he may the most decorated golfer in Tech history, and if he's not, it's certainly debatable. He's played well and he will be an All-American again this year. He will certainly be missed."
Floren finishes his career second in Tech history with three individual wins, behind Bryan Novoa's four. He has eight top five finishes, 23 top tens and 29 top 20s. In his final season, Floren finished among the top ten individuals in seven of 12 events.
Sophomore Santiago Rivas was even in the third round and finished with a three-round 215, while freshman Matt Smith carded a 223, including a 73 today. Sophomore Garrett Merrell was three under after six holes and finished with a one-over 71 after bogeying the 18th hole. He finished with a 224, while freshman Will Griffin scored a 226.
"Today was obviously a lot better," Sands added. "We were competitive with the field. All-in-all I was proud of the effort, and at least this time the result showed it. Two over was at least a competitive round and the guys battled to the end. I knew it would be a great experience for all the players."
Stanford and Coastal Carolina enter Saturday's final round leading the field at 12 under and 10 under, respectively, ahead of Charlotte and Alabama, which are tied in third at two under. Georgia is even on the tournament in fifth place.
Georgia Tech and UCLA are sixth and seventh, while Minnesota and Florida are tied in eighth and South Carolina and Duke tied in 10th. Lamar and Texas are tied in 12th place and Oklahoma State and Florida State outlasted Tennessee in a playoff to claim the final two positions in the 15-team final round.
Stanford's Rob Grube, Clemson's Kyle Stanley and Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale each sit at six under for the tournament and tied atop the leaderboard.
For complete tournament results, log-on to www.golfstatresults.com.
Players Mentioned
