April 30, 2005

TRINITY, Texas - Buoyed by the second-best round of play on Saturday at Whispering Pines Golf Club, the Missouri men's golf team is remains in third place following the second round of the Big 12 Conference Championships. The Tigers will enter Sunday's final round 11 strokes behind Oklahoma State in search of the school's third Big 12 title in any sport, and first conference title in men's golf since winning the 1984 Big Eight Conference Championship.

A front went through southeast Texas early in the day; it not only dropped temperatures up to 30 degrees cooler than Friday's upper-80's, but delayed the start of the tournament for 100 minutes until 9:40 a.m. Another 30-minute delay occurred at noon.

A day after climbing to its highest position at any point of the nine years of the Big 12, the Tigers on Saturday were a single stroke off of OSU's best round of the day. Led by first-year Head Coach Mark Leroux, Missouri is on the verge of posting its best-ever placing at the Big 12 Championships. MU's best finish in eight previous years is a fifth-place showing in 2002.

Four of MU's five players are among the top 20 individuals, led by sophomore Shawn Jasper (Marthasville, Mo. / Francis Howell HS / Newman Univ.) and junior Ben Scott (Lancashire, United Kingdom / St. Theodore's HS), who are both in the top 10 after two rounds of play.

Jasper briefly led the tournament at 3-under-par after draining consecutive birdies on the fourth, fifth and sixth holes. Yet he faltered down the stretch, posting bogeys on five of the last six holes, ultimately finishing with a 2-over 74. For the tournament, Jasper is in a tie for seventh at 1-over 145. Scott had Mizzou's best round of the day, shooting a 1-over 73 to stand in a tie for sixth at even par.

Junior Chris Mabry (Leawood, Kan. / Bishop Miege HS) was just one stroke off of his opening round of 3-over 75, as he balanced four birdies against eight bogeys en route to a 76. He is in a tie for 15th at 7-over 151.

Sophomore John Kelly (St. Louis, Mo. / Christian Brothers College HS) improved on his first round, posting a 2-over-par 74. As he did on Friday, Kelly had four birdies on the day, yet was able to avoid any double- or triple-bogeys on Saturday to climb into a tie for 20th at 8-over 152.

Sophomore Trent Twaddle (Maryville, Mo. / Maryville HS) was set back by a quadruple-bogey eight at the seventh hole, yet after a bogey on the 10th parred the final eight holes en route to an improving 77. He now stands in a tie for 34th at 11-over 155.

Oklahoma State's round-leading 296 has the Cowboys seven strokes in front of Oklahoma heading into the final round. OU is four strokes in front of Missouri, who has a 10-stroke advantage on fourth-place Texas A&M. In addition, Mizzou enters the final round 15 strokes ahead of rival Kansas; the higher-placed team after Sunday's play will earn three points for its school in the annual Border Showdown standings, presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers.

The Oklahoma duo of Anthony Kim and Justin Fraley share the individual lead through two rounds. First-round leader Jeremy Alcorn of Baylor faltered to an 80 on Saturday and stands in a tie for 10th.

As was the case on Saturday, Mizzou will be paired with OSU and OU for the final round, which begins for those three teams Sunday at 8:50 a.m. from the first tee. Live scoring is available for the tournament online at http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=590.

MIZZOU MEN'S GOLF
at the Ninth Big 12 Conference Championships - Trinity, Texas
Whispering Pines Golf Club - 7,330 yards / par 72

TEAM STANDINGS
(Through 36 of 54 holes)

Pl. Team Par 1st 2nd Total
 1. Oklahoma St. +5 285 296 581
 2. Oklahoma +12 290 298 588
 3. Missouri +16 295 297 592
 4. Texas A&M +26 303 299 602
 5. Kansas +31 304 303 607
 6. Texas Tech +33 299 310 609
 7. Baylor +35 303 308 611
 8. Kansas State +38 308 306 614
 9. Nebraska +39 303 312 615
10. Texas +40 311 305 616
11. Iowa State +44 302 318 620
12. Colorado +54 311 319 630

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top 10 plus other MU finishers)

 Pl. Player (TM) Par 1st 2nd Total
 1. Justin Fraley (OU) -4 68 72 140
 Anthony Kim (OU) -4 69 71 140
 3. Matt VanCleave (KSU) -3 70 71 141
 4. Alex Noren (OSU) -2 70 72 142
 5. Tyler Leon (OSU) -1 68 75 143
 6. Ben Scott (MU) E 71 73 144 
 7. Shawn Jasper (MU) +1 71 74 145 
 Andrew Parr (TAMU) +1 73 72 145
 9. Chase Thomas (BU) +2 71 75 146
 10. Jeremy Alcorn (BU) +3 67 80 147
 Zack Robinson (OSU) +3 74 73 147
T15. Chris Mabry (MU) +7 75 76 151 
T20. John Kelly (MU) +8 78 74 152
T34. Trent Twaddle (MU) +11 78 77 155