Paysse Tied for First at NCAA Regional, No. 12 Aggie Men’s Golf in Second

(Source: Texas A&M Athletics)

By: Madeline Osborn, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M men’s golf’s William Paysse is tied at the top of the leaderboard at 6-under following two rounds of play at the NCAA Bryan Regional at Traditions Club.

The Belton, Texas, native moved up six spots after shooting a 3-under 69. Paysse bogeyed No. 3 before making the turn at 1-under following birdies on Nos. 6 and 9. On the back nine, he carded birdies on holes 12 and 15. The junior is tied with Georgia’s Trent Phillips and Arizona’s Christian Banke.

As a team, the Aggies are in third at 10-under after shooting a 2-under 286. Arizona leads the field at 13-under and is one stroke ahead of No. 13 Georgia. No. 6 Pepperdine (-8) and Oregon State (-1) round out the top five.

Walker Lee moved up six spots and is tied for 10th after shooting 2-under in the second round. Sam Bennett is tied for 17th at 1-under, Phichaksn Maichon is tied for 26th at 1-over and Daniel Rodrigues is tied for 37th at 4-over.

The Maroon & White close out the tournament Wednesday at 7:30 am and are paired with Arizona and Georgia.

Live scoring is available through Golfstat and can be found here.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach Brian Kortan

On the luxury of playing on your home course…
“You always think you can prepare for your home golf course, but you can’t prepare for the outside noise. The Aggie (Invitational) helps because we have a lot of friends and family that are here and it’s a privilege to play at home and have that kind of pressure on you. It’s earned, and our guys handle it well. We have a mature group, and we will be ready to fight through 18 holes tomorrow.”

On the team’s standings after day two…
“It wasn’t the back nine we were hoping for but overall, we’re right where we need to be. It’s a good test to play these regionals – you’re never comfortable. The guys did good. They fought all day.”

Graduate Walker Lee
On the day’s performance…
“I didn’t play very well at all, but I scored way better than I should have. I’m happy. Mentally, I’m there. I’m making everything and I’m chipping well but it’s just ball striking. I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’ll figure something out on the range.”

On heading into the final day…
“The nine shots [separating first and fifth place] are not much. The difference between first and fifth doesn’t really mean anything because our goal coming into the week was to win and defend our home turf. Chasing the lead will be a good mindset to have tomorrow.”

Junior William Paysse
On today’s round…
“I thought I played pretty well. It was a lot different than yesterday. I didn’t hit my irons as well as I’d like to but my chipping and putting really saved me today. It was nice. It felt good to finish that one off and post a good number. I think I’m in a good spot, as well as the team, so I think if we just stick to the plan, we’ll be in good shape.”