News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Texas A&M men’s golf standout Daniel Rodrigues moved into third place after Thursday’s second round of the SEC Championship. The Aggies remained seven strokes above the cutline for quarterfinal match play, sitting in sixth place with one round remaining.
Rodrigues recorded four birdies in the round, posting a 2-under 68 at the par-70, 7,005 Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club. He owns a 5-under 135 tally heading into Friday’s final round of stroke play. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun leads the field at 8-under 132.
The Aggies dropped to sixth place in the standings but maintained their seven-stroke advantage over ninth place, now owned by Ole Miss. Texas A&M’s two round score is 6-under 554, nine strokes off the pace of tournament leader Vanderbilt (-15). Georgia (-11), Florida (-11), Auburn (-10) and Tennessee (-9) round out the top five. Ol’ Sarge’s charges are being chased by Alabama (-5), Arkansas (-2) and Ole Miss (+1).
Phichaksn Maichon posted the Aggies’ best second round score at 3-under 67 with all his ground on par made in his first eight holes. He heads into the final round tied for 14th place at 3-under 137.
After a sluggish start, Jaime Montojo birdied three of his last four holes to finish even 70. He also fired a 70 in Wednesday’s opening round and is tied for 28th place.
Michael Heidelbaugh and Aaron Pounds rounded out the Texas A&M fivesome with rounds of 3-over 73. For the tournament, Heidelbaugh owns a 2-over 142 while Pounds sits at 7-over 147.
The Aggies start Friday’s action with tee times from 8:20-9:00 a.m. at hole No. 10. The Maroon & White are paired with Auburn and Tennessee for the final round. The format turns to match play Saturday with the top eight playing in morning quarterfinal rounds followed by an afternoon of semifinal bouts. The conference title is decided in Sunday’s championship match.
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Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On the second round action…
“We’re still in good position to make match play which is your goal when you come here. The guys really hung in there today down the stretch. We got on the wrong side of the hole a few times today. This course will penalize you when you’re on the wrong side of the hole. We hung in there, grinded through it and played the last few holes under par. A strong round tomorrow gets us to match play. The goal when you come here is to first get to match play and then to win the matches.”
On Daniel Rodrigues putting together another solid round to finish the day in third place…
“With Dani when you get on a golf course like this, it’s not about how many birdies he’s going to make, it’s about how many bogeys he doesn’t make. He’s only made a couple bogeys for two rounds and he’s made enough birdies to be in the hunt. He’s done a really good job. He has a lot of experience here and he’s comfortable with how this golf course makes you play.”
On Phichaksn Maichon rebounding from yesterday…
“He didn’t hit the tee ball very well yesterday and still had a chance to shoot a really good score with a few holes left. I knew with better tee balls today he’d shoot a better score. He was better day. He always feels like he left a few out there, but he was a ton better today.”
On Jaime Montojo’s strong finish…
“Jaime really gave us some momentum going into tomorrow. He birdied three of his last four holes and put us in a really good position to do what we came here to do.”