Men's Golf Falls To 20th Heading Into The Final Round Of The NCAA East Regional

Friday, May 21

New Haven, Conn.

All Day

UAB

NCAA East Regional

Men's Golf Falls To 20th Heading Into The Final Round Of The NCAA East Regional

5/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

May 21, 2004

NEW HAVEN, Conn. ----- Junior Ryan Thomas continued his hot play here Friday and sits in a tie for fourth overall individually after two rounds of the NCAA East Regional. The North Abernant, Wales native, shot a one-over par 71 on the afternoon, to give him a 141 in tournament-play heading into Saturday's final round. As a team, the Blazers struggled throughout the day, shooting a 303 on the par-70, 6,748-yard Course at Yale.

UAB currently sits in 20th place in the 27-team field, after carding rounds of 294 and 303 for a total of 597. The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals will play in the NCAA Championships June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.

Even if the Blazers do not make the top-10, Thomas' performance could land him an individual spot in the NCAA Tournament as the top two players from each regional not on an advancing team will also earn a spot in the NCAA Championships.

"We struggled throughout the day as a team," UAB head coach Alan Kaufman said. "Ryan is playing really well and I am proud of the way he has played. We still have a chance to advance as a team, but we have to come out and shoot a very good round to make the cut."

Penn State fired a 5-over, 285 to take a one-stroke lead in the second. The Nittany Lions (575), who were fifth after a 290 on Thursday, got a 70 from senior Ted Neville and 71 from juniors Mark Leon and Greg Pieczynski. Clemson, the defending national champions, are fourth with a 579.

Florida went from first to second in a day but is one shot back at 576 after going 10 over. Senior Camilo Villegas, who is second in the individual standings and two under for the tournament, shot a 70 to lead the Gators.

Wake Forest senior Bill Haas, the winner of the 2004 Ben Hogan Award for the top player in collegiate golf, followed up a first-round 67 with an even-par 70 and has the lead for the second day in a row.

UAB's third, and final round of play begins on Saturday morning with the Blazers set to tee off at 10:50 a.m. CST. Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com

TEAM LEADER BOARD

1 Penn State U. +15 +5 290 285 575

2 Florida +16 +10 286 290 576

3 North Carolina +17 +3 294 283 577

T4 Clemson +19 +11 288 291 579

T4 Georgia Tech +19 +8 291 288 579

T6 Auburn +20 +6 294 286 580

T6 Georgia +20 +13 287 293 580

8 Rhode Island, U. of +21 +9 292 289 581

9 Wake Forest Univ. +24 +8 296 288 584

T10 Jacksonville St. +28 +2 306 282 588

T10 Georgia State Univ. +28 +20 288 300 588