By: Evan Roberts, Texas A&M Athletics Communications
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The 19th-ranked Texas A&M men’s golf team sits in fourth place after the first round of action Wednesday at the SEC Championship at Sea Island Golf Club.
The Aggies shot a 1-under 279 and are six strokes behind No. 3 Vanderbilt. No. 11 Georgia is in second at 4-under, No. 25 LSU is 3-under and No. 16 Florida rounds out the top five at 2-over.
“The guys did a great job remaining patient. It was a tough day as the wind blew pretty hard,” head coach Brian Kortan said. “We didn’t have a lot of momentum throughout the round, but we stuck to the game plan, stayed patient and fought the whole day. Phichaksn’s (Maichon) round was great. It was huge for us. When you have five guys playing and they are all in the round and doing the things we talk about doing like teeing it in to the fairway and getting birdie looks, it puts you in position to finish up well. We made some birdies to go from 3-over to 1-under in the last couple holes which was huge.
“There is a lot of golf left, so the guys have to stick to being disciplined. The weather is going to be like it was for the next few days. They know what is in front of them. A lot of these guys have been before so they know what to do. We will get rested up and be ready to get it after it tomorrow.”
Phichaksn Maichon led the Maroon & White and is tied for second at 3-under. The Bangkok, Thailand, native was 1-over after the first three holes before registering birdies on Nos. 4, 5 and 8 to make the turn at 2-under. A string of nine-consecutive pars kept him at 2-under before he birdied No. 18.
Walker Lee is tied for 18th at even-par while William Paysse and Daniel Rodrigues are tied for 20th at 1-over. Sam Bennett is tied for 48th at 4-over.
The Aggies return to the course Thursday at 7:50 a.m. and are paired with the Gators and Missouri.