News release from Texas A&M Athletics:
STANFORD – The No. 19 Texas A&M men’s golf team surged the last six holes of Monday’s opening round at the NCAA Stanford Regional to move into a tie for fourth place at 9-under 271.
The Maroon & White are knotted with Ole Miss six strokes above the NCAA Championship cutoff. Illinois leads the pack at 17-under 263 followed by Florida State (-13) and Stanford (-11). The top five teams at each of the six three-round regionals advance to the championship slated for May 24-29 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. UCLA (-3) is six strokes below the cutoff with Augusta (E) and UNLV (+1) also in striking distance.
The Aggies’ performance was highlighted by aces from Jaime Montojo and Daniel Rodrigues and an eagle by by Michael Heidelbaugh at the par-70, 6,727-yard Stanford Golf Course. Montojo dropped in his hole-in-one at the 185-yard No. 17 while Rodrigues matched the effort on the 167-yard No. 4. Heidelbaugh registered his eagle on the 539-yard, par-5 No. 7.
Texas A&M started the day at No. 10 and made the turn at 2-over. The Aggies were even after 12 holes, closing out the day by going 9-under on the last six holes. In addition to Rodrigues’ ace and Heidelbaugh’s eagle, the Maroon & White registered seven of their 14 bridies over the last six holes.
Phichaksn Maichon paced Texas A&M on the opening day with a 4-under 66. He fired four birdies on a bogeyless day to sit in a tie for sixth place. Heidelbaugh and Rodrigues are one stroke back at 3-under 67 in a logjam of nine golfers tied for 10th place. Max Herendeen of Illinois leads the field at 7-under 63.
Tuesday’s action starts at 11 a.m. with the Aggies teeing off from No. 10 paired with Ole Miss and UCLA.
Live scoring is available at Golfstat.
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Texas A&M Quotes
Head Coach Brian Kortan
On the strong finish to the round…
“The guys hung in there. They knew we were hitting good shots. There were good things happening, but the scorecard didn’t show it. They hung in there and finally stacked some shots. They not only hit good shots, but made some nice putts and built up momentum.”
On the aces by Jaime Montojo and Daniel Rodrigues…
“That’s always awesome. Those are the first two hole-in-ones since I’ve been at A&M. I’ve had more hole-in-ones than my team we’ve been here. It was awesome to see. Jaime’s was kind of a momentum deal. When Roddy got his on No. 4 that sort of kickstarted our team. That got him going and some other guys made some good shots and Mike (Heidelbaugh) it’s it to about a foot on the par-5 to make an eagle. They’re a gritty bunch, so it was nice to see them rewarded with those moments.”
On the team effort and three players in the top 10…
“That’s the strength of who we are and how we do things. We believe in the team part of golf. These guys play hard for each other. I know Jaime and Aaron (Pounds) are disappointed with their scores today, but they’ll get after it tomorrow and shoot some good scores. They know what the mission is and it’s a long way from being over.”
TEAM SCORES
|
1 |
Illinois |
263 |
-17 |
|
2 |
Florida State |
267 |
-13 |
|
3 |
Stanford |
269 |
-11 |
|
t-4 |
Texas A&M |
271 |
-9 |
|
t-4 |
Ole Miss |
271 |
-9 |
|
6 |
UCLA |
277 |
-3 |
|
7 |
Augusta |
280 |
E |
|
8 |
UNLV |
281 |
+1 |
|
9 |
SMU |
285 |
+5 |
|
t-10 |
Fresno State |
286 |
+6 |
|
t-10 |
Liberty |
286 |
+6 |
|
t-10 |
Missouri |
286 |
+6 |
|
13 |
Siena |
288 |
+7 |
|
14 |
Sacramento State |
296 |
+16 |
TEXAS A&M SCORES
|
t-7 |
Phichaksn Maichon |
66 |
-4 |
|
t-10 |
Michael Heidelbaugh |
67 |
-3 |
|
t-10 |
Daniel Rodrigues |
67 |
-3 |
|
t-36 |
Jaime Montojo |
71 |
+1 |
|
t-67 |
Aaron Pounds |
75 |
+5 |
– aTm –