Texas Tech Athletics
Big 12 Conference Championships
Merrell Cards Low Round of the Day
April 25, 2008 | Men's Golf
April 25, 2008
TRINITY, Texas - Garrett Merrell carded a 67 in the second round of the Big 12 Conference Men's Golf Championships on Friday in Trinity, Texas, turning in the tournament's lowest score of the first two rounds. Merrell, who shot an opening-round 76 earlier in the day, birdied three of the last four holes and five overall on the back nine to finish in a sixth-place tie and is three shots off of the lead.
Merrell finished a bogey-free front nine with a birdie in the second round, and bogeyed No. 10, before his five-birdie barrage on the final eight holes. Chris Ward, playing in just his fourth tournament as a Red Raider, had the steady hand throughout both rounds, carding a 72 and 69 to finish the day tied in third place. He is one shot behind tournament leaders Rickie Fowler and Kevin Tway of Oklahoma State. Fowler entered the event as the nation's top-ranked golfer.
Will Griffin covered the most ground from the morning to the afternoon, improving 10 strokes with a 1-under 71. Griffin opened play Friday morning with a 9-over 81. He is tied in 32nd place. Santiago Rivas is tied in 23rd-place with rounds of 74 and 75 and is 5-over par on the tournament, while Sergio Franky suffered through rounds of 80 and 79. He is in 52nd-place tie.
Texas Tech improved 20 strokes with a second-round 282 and is in fourth place after struggling through a 302 and eighth-place first round showing. The Red Raiders shot 6-under as a team on the final nine holes of the second round to get back within one stroke of third-place Texas A&M. At the turn on the second 18, the Red Raiders sat seven strokes behind the Aggies.
Oklahoma State leads the event with a 9-under 567, after blistering the course with rounds of 285 and 282. Second-place Texas finished at 6-over (582), followed by Texas A&M (583), Texas Tech (584) and Oklahoma (592). Baylor (594), Kansas (598), Nebraska (603), Kansas State (604) and Iowa State (611) are sixth through tenth, respectively, while Colorado (614) and Missouri (616) are 11th and 12th.
The third round of the 72-hole event gets underway at 9 a.m. CT Saturday, followed by the final round Sunday at 8 a.m. For complete results, standings and live scoring, log-on to www.golfstat.com.
Players Mentioned
