May 15, 2003

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The University of Missouri men's golf team finished the first of three rounds of the NCAA Central Regional held in Manhattan, Kansas at Colbert Hills Golf Course on Thursday with a 298, two strokes back of conference foes Texas Tech and Texas A&M.

The University of Illinois leads the tournament after shooting thirteen under-par on the opening day. Of the 27 teams competing, ten advance to the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City.

Junior Michael Radek carded a round of 73, one-over par. Radek shot a 30 on the back nine, two under-par, helped by an eagle on hole 16. Fellow Tiger junior David Jenkins also shot a 73 in today's first round. Rounding out the Tigers' scoring, junior Brandon Knaub scored a 75, seniors Chris Happ and Cory Ewert both scored a 77.

The Tigers' round score of 298 is their best at Colbert Hills this season. Mizzou made an earlier appearance in the fall at the Jim Colbert Intercollegiate where they finished fourth of 12.

Mizzou continues their post-season run tomorrow as they play in the second round of the NCAA Central Regional. Follow the action on golfstat.com and log-on to mutigers.com tomorrow night for a complete recap.