Huge day two helps Ole Miss men’s golf move into 12th at NCAA Championships

This Ole Miss men’s golf story was provided by Ole Miss Athletics Media Relations

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Day two of the NCAA Championships saw Ole Miss men’s golf bounce back in a big way at Grayhawk Golf Club on Saturday, with the Rebels finishing the second round with a team score of 287 (+7) on the day.

With a two-day team total of 584 (+24), the Rebels now sit within a very crowded midfield in which the teams in sixth place (Arkansas – 580) and in 19th place (Wake Forest – 588) are only separated by eight total strokes, making tomorrow’s cut day even more high pressure.

Following Sunday’s third round of stroke play, the field will be cut to the top 15 teams and top nine individuals not on advancing teams to compete in Monday’s fourth and final round of stroke play.

“The tough part about days like today, or more specifically the morning wave versus the afternoon wave, is that the wind picks up and the course just plays a lot harder in the afternoon. You can see that by the scores,” said head coach Chris Malloy.

“For Suber to go out there and shoot 65 really gave us that shot in the arm that we needed,” Malloy said. “Again as I told the guys, if we can just go back and clean up some silly mistakes on some of these big numbers then we’ll be just fine and we’ll continue to cruise right along. The name of the game is to get better as the week goes along and to stay in contention.”

Rebel senior Jackson Suber was a man on a mission during his second round of play at Grayhawk, with Suber tallying seven birdies across his round to finish with a tournament-best round of 65 (-5) on the day. Suber now heads into day three tied for fourth place individually, just two strokes behind individual leader Cole Sherwood of Vanderbilt.

Suber opened his day on a roll, earning birdies on six of his first 10 holes to start off his round six-under par. He would go on to connect on one more birdie on No. 15 alongside a pair of bogeys to log a 65, tying Oklahoma State’s Aman Gupta for the best 18-hole round of the weekend so far. Suber currently ranks second in the field in total birdies (9) and par-4 scoring (-1) on the weekend.

“I had a good day today and that’s because I just kept the same game plan as yesterday and it just worked out a little better for me today,” Suber said. “Don’t need to change anything or reinvent the wheel, I just need to keep trusting that. Some holes it’s going to be there, some it’s not. It’ll all work out in the end.”

Sarut Vongchaisit finished his second round just slightly above par with a 71 (+1), moving the Bangkok, Thailand, native into a tie for 32nd overall. Evan Brown sits a little further down the board for the Rebels, with his two-day score of 150 (+10) having the graduate transfer now in a tie for 85th.

Jack Gnam and Kye Meeks finished off the day for the Rebels with Meeks carding a 75 (+5) and Gnam shooting a 76 (+6) to round out the Ole Miss lineup. Gnam now sits 12-over par on the week and in a tie for 109th, while Meeks is tied for 121st at 13-over through two rounds in Scottsdale.

No. 1 overall Oklahoma currently leads the way on the team leaderboard with the Sooners sitting two strokes above par (562) as a team on the week following a round of 275 (-5) on Saturday. Sunday’s round three cut line is currently positioned at 25-over par on the week, with the Rebels currently sitting one stroke clear of the danger zone.

Ole Miss now looks to make it through Sunday’s third round cut and progress to the final round of stroke play, as the Rebels will tee off day three at 9:27 a.m. CT.

THE REBELS
T4. Jackson Suber: 74-65–139 (-1)
T32. Sarut Vongchaisit: 74-74–145 (+5)
T85. Evan Brown: 73-77–150 (+10)
T109. Jack Gnam: 76-76–152 (+12)
T121. Kye Meeks: 78-75–153 (+13)

TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. Oklahoma: 287-275–562 (+2)
2. Vanderbilt: 282-282–564 (+4)
3. Oklahoma State: 289-277–566 (+6)
4. North Carolina: 288-281–569 (+9)
5. Pepperdine: 294-282–576 (+16)
6. Arkansas: 293-286–580 (+20)
7. Auburn: 285-296–581 (+21)
T8. Arizona State: 290-292–582 (+22)
T8. Texas: 291-291–582 (+22)
T10. Kansas: 286-297–583 (+23)
T10. Georgia: 291-292–583 (+23)
T12. Ole Miss: 297-287–584 (+24)
T12. Texas Tech: 297-287–584 (+24)
T14. Stanford: 295-290–585 (+25)
T14. Oregon: 285-300–585 (+25)
T14. Florida: 300-285–585 (+25)
T17. Texas A&M: 300-287–587 (+27)
T17. Georgia Tech: 298-289–587 (+27)
19. Wake Forest: 303-285–588 (+28)
20. Florida State: 291-300–591 (+31)
21. Arizona: 286-306–592 (+32)
22. Liberty: 290-303–593 (+33)
23. BYU: 295-302–597 (+37)
T24. Ohio State: 300-300–600 (+40)
T24. Georgia Southern: 295-305–600 (+40)
26. North Florida: 306-298–604 (+44)
27. East Tennessee State: 297-308–605 (+45)
28. USF: 303-304–607 (+47)
29. Utah: 297-311–608 (+48)
30. College of Charleston: 305-313–618 (+58)