June 3, 2005

Results

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The Missouri men's golf team made a run at the 54-hole cut line Friday at the 108th NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, yet fell seven strokes short and finished in a tie for 20th place at Caves Valley Golf Club.

It is a tremendous accomplishment for a team that was left for dead just a few months ago from the standpoint of qualifying as even one of the 81 teams to advance to regionals. As the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the 30-team nationals field, the Tigers - making their first appearance at the finals since 1986 - played to their regional seed after entering Wednesday among the No. 19-21 seeds.

One Tiger's season isn't yet done, however: Sophomore Shawn Jasper (Marthasville, Mo. / Francis Howell HS / Newman Univ.) will finish play on Saturday after becoming one of the top six individuals not among one of the 15 teams that made Friday's team cut. He is in a tie for eighth place individually - and second among the six individuals that will advance - after shooting a 5-over-par 75 this afternoon.

By virtue of qualifying for the final round, Jasper is the first Mizzou men's golfer since John Utley in 1990 to make it to the final day of the NCAA Nationals.

"He's gonna have a big gallery," first-year Head Coach Mark Leroux said, noting the half-dozen family members, along with his quartet of teammates, on Saturday. "He had a great round today, given the conditions. He had something like three greens-in-regulation; he was everywhere today."

Caves Valley - already playing at over three strokes over par entering Friday's play - reared an even uglier head on Friday with an average round approaching 77. Sophomore John Kelly (St. Louis, Mo. / Christian Brothers College HS) posted a solid round with a 4-over 74 to stand in a tie for 50th place. "John Kelly's 74 was phenomenal today," Leroux said. "The course is already long, and with the wind today the ball was going nowhere. There were par-4's that kids couldn't get to with two shots. A kid from Stanford hit driver/4-iron/wedge on one hole because he knew he wasn't going to make the green in two. Chris Mabry was 135 yards out on his approach on 18 yesterday; one of his playing partners today was 295 yards out on the same hole."

After that round and Jasper's 75, junior Ben Scott (Lancashire, United Kingdom / St. Theodore's HS) posted Mizzou's next-best round Friday with a 77 to finish in a tie for 139th place. Junior Chris Mabry (Leawood, Kan. / Bishop Miege HS) followed with a 78 to stand in a tie for 85th place, and sophomore Trent Twaddle (Maryville, Mo. / Maryville HS) rounded out the Tigers' final team round with an 81 to place in a tie for 150th.

When asked about the chances of his team finishing 20th in the nation back in April, before the Tigers won the first of back-to-back tournaments, Leroux said that it "would have been a stretch." After Friday's round, he reflected further on his team's season.

"The team kinda grew and got better all year, and they fooled a lot of people," Leroux said. "It's been an amazing year, there's no two ways about it. These guys collectively own almost every record there is in Mizzou golf, which is pretty impressive. This is a young team that didn't play a senior the last half of the season. The future is very bright for this golf team. Now that we're done, we're really looking forward to the freshmen coming in will help take us to a new level."

Despite shooting its worst round by 13 strokes, Georgia retained a commanding nine-shot lead over Georgia Tech entering the final round. The day's best team score, by three shots, was a 291 posted by New Mexico. To give some perspective, only seven schools on Friday shot under 300, which is what the Tigers carded in Wednesday's opening round to comprise that day's worst score.

Pepperdine's Michael Putnam (-3) held onto the individual lead by one stroke over Augusta State's Major Manning and Roberto Castro of Georgia Tech. Those three are the only golfers at par or better for the tournament. The day's best round was a 1-under 69 carded by Kentucky's John Holmes; he was the only golfer Friday to shoot par or better.

Jasper will tee off with Putnam and Stanford's Rob Grube from the first tee at 9:12 a.m. EDT on Saturday.