May 29, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -
Second Round Results in PDF Format
San Diego State's David Palm (Landvetter, Sweden) fired an even-par 72 on Thursday to lead the Aztec men's golf team during the second round of the NCAA Championships at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex on the Purdue University campus. Despite shaving seven strokes off its collective score from the previous day with a 15-over-par 303, SDSU slipped three places in the team standings into a tie for 19th at 37-over 613.
Palm, conversely, was able to move up the individual leaderboard, climbing from the 40th position into a tie for 17th at 4-over 148 after posting the Aztecs' best score of the day. The SDSU junior paced the team with six birdies, including four on his first 10 holes. Palm's momentum was dampened by somewhat by three bogeys and a double-bogey on the back nine. However, further damage was avoided after he drained consecutive birdies on the 15th and 16th. With his effort, Palm finds himself just two shots out of the top 10.
Fellow countryman Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) also displayed upward mobility during the second round after leaping 37 places from 100th into a tie for 63rd at 9-over 153. The Aztec freshman trimmed seven shots off Wednesday's dismal 80, offsetting five bogeys with four birdies of his own, including two in a row on holes 16 and 17, en route to a 1-over 73.
Freshman Matt Hoffenberg stormed back with a vengeance as well on Thursday, shooting a 3-over 75, which was a nine-stroke improvement over his first-round total. The Simi Valley, Calif., native was without a blemish on his scorecard until he made double-bogey and bogey, respectively, on the 12th and 13th holes, setting him back to 3-over for the round. Despite two additional bogeys, Hoffenberg regrouped with back-to-back birdies on holes 16 and 17 to finish the day in a tie for 122nd at 15-over 159, along with senior Aaron Goldberg.
Goldberg experienced a precipitous drop on the individual leaderboard after carding an uncharacteristic 85, his worst 18-hole score as an Aztec. The Encinitas, Calif., product was at 2-over for the round after recording consecutive pars on the seventh and eighth holes when the roof caved in. Goldberg, who entered the day in a tie for 10th place, carded four double-bogeys and three bogeys over his last 10 holes to effectively fall out of contention.
Senior Chad Moscovic (Stockton, Calif.) also suffered a reversal of fortune on Thursday, plummeting from 100th into a tie for 145th at 19-over 163 after logging a second-round 83. Moscovic sank two birdies, but was doomed by four straight bogeys on holes 7-10, followed by back-to-back triple-bogeys on the 12th and 13th.
The 7,450-yard, par-72 Kampen Course once again proved challenging for the 30-team field as Clemson (+13) tied for the best round of the day, shooting a combined even-par 288 to open up a slim lead over UCLA (+14) and USC (+15). Individually, Florida's Billy Horschel (-5) moved up four places into the top spot after firing a second-round 67. Meanwhile, Nick Taylor of Washington (-3) posted a tournament-low 6-under 66 to vault from 23rd into third behind Horschel and Clemson's Kyle Stanley (-4).
Third-round play at the NCAA Championships gets underway for San Diego State on Friday starting at 12:20 p.m. EDT on the 10th tee. The Aztecs, who will be grouped with Penn State and East Tennessee State, must finish in the top 15 in order to advance to Saturday's final round. A link to Golfstat's live scoring will be available on the home page of GoAztecs.com.
NCAA Championships At West Lafayette, Ind. Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex - Kampen Course (7,450 yards, par 72)
Second Round Team Standings (Top 10 + SDSU)1. Clemson 301-288 - 589 (+13)2. UCLA 297-293 - 590 (+14)3. USC 297-294 - 591 (+15)4. Florida 302-291 - 593 (+17)5. Oklahoma State 298-296 - 594 (+18)6. Washington 305-290 - 595 (+19)7. Georgia 303-293 - 596 (+20)8. Stanford 309-288 - 597 (+21)9. Kent State 301-297 - 598 (+22)10. Charlotte 306-295 - 601 (+25)T19. San Diego State 310-303 - 613 (+37)
Second Round Individual Leaders (Top 5 + SDSU)1. Billy Horschel, Florida 72-67 - 139 (-5)2. Kyle Stanley, Clemson 72-68 - 140 (-4)3. Nick Taylor, Washington 75-66 - 141 (-3)T4. Kevin Chappell, UCLA 69-73 - 142 (-2)T4. Hudson Swafford, Georgia 73-69 - 142 (-2)T17. David Palm, SDSU 76-72 - 148 (+4)T63. Johan Carlsson, SDSU 80-73 - 153 (+9)T122. Matt Hoffenberg, SDSU 84-75 - 159 (+15)T122. Aaron Goldberg, SDSU 74-85 - 159 (+15)T145. Chad Moscovic, SDSU 80-83 - 163 (+19)