Hill Sits Second at NCAA Championship; Two Strokes Out

TOLEDO, OHIO – Thanks to an eagle on his 17th hole of the day, sophomore Matt Hill will go into tomorrow’s final round of the 112th NCAA Championships just two strokes off the lead. Hill matched his first round score from yesterday of two-under (69), and is tied with two other golfers for second place heading into tomorrow’s third and final round of stroke play at four-under (69-69=138). Alex Ching of San Diego shot a five-under today, and holds the individual lead at six-under (Ching’s round was cut short as he played only 10 holes).

Rain caused havoc in today’s second round, as play was delayed from 11:35 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. Only half of the field was able to complete their round of 18 today, and tomorrow will feature the conclusion of the second round and then the final round for those golfers.

Hill was in the morning group today, and got through 10 holes before he had to sit through the delay.

Hill started on Hole No. 10 today, and posted a par on his first three holes. Hill’s first birdie of the day came on the par-five No. 13, but was followed by a bogey on No. 14. Hill would close out his first nine holes with four straight pars, and shoot an even-par on his front-nine.

Hill would then make the turn, and start his back-nine on Hole No. 1 which he would bogey. Then the rain came, and Hill and the rest of the field would sit for over four hours.

Once play resumed, Hill would par Hole No. 2. He would then notched his second birdie of the day, on the par-three No. 3 to get back to even par. After par on his next four holes, Hill would hole an eagle on the par-five No. 8, and follow that with a par to conclude his round of 18. On Hill’s back-nine of the day, he was two-under par with an eagle and a birdie.

Among the six golfers competing as individuals without their teams this weekend, Hill holds a five shot lead over the next highest competitor.

“I don’t have to worry about my team at all, so there may be a little less pressure. At the same time when I’m out there I just try to worry about myself.”

“I’m going to go out there and trying to do what I’ve been doing. I want to keep it in the fairway, hit greens, and hopefully a few puts go in.”

“The conditions were a little bit easier and you can make more birdies, especially on holes like 3 and 6 which were playing easier. After the rain delay there was hardly any wind so I made a few key shots on the fairway because there was a little bit of a crosswind on quite a few holes yesterday that made it tougher on the fairway.”

Because of the rain delay, not all of the second round was completed. Play will resume at 6:45 a.m. with the conclusion of the second round, followed by the third and final round for the individual competition tomorrow.