EUGENE, Ore. – Top-seeded Stanford briefly lost its four-stroke lead to Oklahoma midway through Friday’s round at Eugene Country Club, but the Cardinal regrouped to post a 2-over 282 for a seven-shot advantage over the Sooners heading into the final round of the NCAA Eugene Regional Championships.
Patrick Rodgers separated himself from the field with a 3-under 67, dipping to 7-under through 36 holes and a six-shot lead over Oregon’s Zach Foushee, UT-Chattanooga’s Chris Robb and teammate Cameron Wilson.
A win will tie Rodgers with Tiger Woods with a school-record 11 career victories. Stanford could earn its fourth straight victory and sixth in 11 tournaments on the season.
Rodgers had two birdies on the front and a pair on the back, with a bogey on the par-4, 424-yard 11th as his only blemish. He leads the field in par-4 scoring at 3.83.
Good crowd watching Patrick Rogers @StanfordMGolf shoot low @EugeneCC @NCAA pic.twitter.com/wVbw7xNGbD
— Missy Jones (@missyjonjones) May 16, 2014
“Our guys fought hard after another slow start on the first five or six holes,” said Conrad Ray, Stanford’s Knowles Family Director of Men’s Golf. “The hole locations and course setup were very demanding, as they should be at this time of year. We stuck to our game plan and we’re happy with how we played to the very end. There is one more day and a ton of golf left.”
Wilson used birdies at nine and 10 to go to 1-under, adding a birdie on 17 for a 2-under 68. Wilson is 1-under for the tournament.
Listen to this... http://t.co/pS2gBMSxbc WHAACK! A mere 325 to front edge & @CAWilsonGolf ball ended up! Mah.. His previous drive was 340!
— ByTheMinStanfordGolf (@ByTheMinSMGolf) May 16, 2014
Viraat Badhwar was even at the turn and finished with a 3-over 73. David Boote, who is tied for 14th with Badhwar, was 3-over on the front and 1-over on the back for a 74.
Maverick McNealy used 82 strokes to get through his round on the par-70 track.
The 13-team field concludes the 56-hole event Saturday with live results available at GoStanford.com. The low five teams will advance to the NCAA Championships.