Oct. 9, 2000
St. Charles, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's golf team used a huge improvement in the second round of play today at the Purina Classic, and find themselves in first place after the first day of play. The Tigers shot a second-round team score of 279, eight shots better than Kansas (ranked 12th in the latest power rankings), which led after one round of action, and lead by two shots over the Jayhawks, 570 to 572, heading into tomorrow's final round of play. A Tiger victory tomorrow would represent MU's first at this event, which Missouri has hosted every year at the Bluffs Golf Course since 1995.
The team standings are rather tightly bunched, however, as five other schools are within nine shots of Missouri. After second-place Kansas (572), the challengers include Baylor (3rd - 576), Tulsa (T-4th - 578), Michigan State (T-4th - 578) and Arkansas State (6th - 579).
Missouri's Mark McBride and Chris Happ shot stellar afternoon rounds, and are part of a five-way tie for the individual lead heading into tomorrow. McBride, a junior from Lebanon, Mo., tied an MU single-round record by firing a six-under par 65 in the second round. That was a nine-shot improvement from his morning round of 74, and represented a collegiate best for the reigning Missouri State Amateur Champion whose previous collegiate best was a 70. McBride is looking for his second-consecutive individual title, as he claimed medalist honors last week at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate in Manhattan, Kan.
Tiger sophomore Chris Happ also turned in some outstanding play today, shooting rounds of 72 and a four-under par 67 for a 139 total. Happ's 67 represented a collegiate best for the Winnetka, Ill. native, and is his first collegiate sub-70 round.
Baylor's Jimmy Walker (71-68), Tulsa's David Inglis (72-67) and Kansas' Travis Hurst (72-67) also laid claim to first-day leader honors, totaling identical totals of 139 heading into tomorrow's final round.
The final round gets underway Tuesday at 8:15 a.m., and will be concluded by approximately 2:00 p.m. The public is invited to come watch some of the nation's top collegiate golfers, as there is no admission fee.
TEAM STANDINGS Pl Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total 1 MISSOURI 291 279 570 2 Kansas 285 287 572 3 Baylor 292 284 576 4 Tulsa 297 281 578 Michigan St. 288 290 578 6 Arkansas St. 290 289 579 7 La.-Lafayette 293 289 582 8 Wichita St. 299 288 587 UNC-Charlotte 294 293 587 10 Kansas St. 303 285 588 11 Illinois 296 294 590 12 Colorado 294 297 591 Rice 294 297 591 14 Illinois St. 300 296 596 15 Nebraska 301 297 598INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS Pl Player (School) 1st 2nd 3rd Tot 1 Mark McBride (MU) 74 65 139 Chris Happ (MU) 72 67 139 Jimmy Walker (BU) 71 68 139 David Inglis (Tulsa) 72 67 139 Travis Hurst (KU) 72 67 139 6 Jeff Curl (UNCC) 73 68 141 Nic Baker (Ill. St.) 71 70 141 Dennis Riedel (MSU) 69 72 141 17 Brandon Knaub (MU) 72 72 144 *Ben Douglas 70 74 144 43 Tom Vogt (MU) 73 75 148 *Neal Stafford (MU) 75 73 148 75 Michael Radek (MU) 77 79 156 78 *Shawn Fleming (MU) 78 79 157 84 *Adam Carter (MU) 94 75 169 *-Competing as an individual