Mizzou's Peter Malnati shot a 1-under-par 69 on Tuesday at the Big 12 Championships.Mizzou's Peter Malnati shot a 1-under-par 69 on Tuesday at the Big 12 Championships.
Men's Golf

Missouri Men's Golf Improves To Eighth at Big 12 Championships

April 28, 2009

Hutchinson, Kan. -

Big 12 Championships Round 3 Team Results Get Acrobat Reader

Big 12 Championships Round 3 Individual Results Get Acrobat Reader

This was much more like it for Missouri and senior Peter Malnati. After battling difficult weather conditions for 36 holes on Monday, the senior led the Tigers through a much-improved third-round as the club moved four spots up the team standings, highlighted by Malnati's 1-under-par 69 at the 2009 Big 12 Conference Men's Golf Championships in Hutchinson, Kan.

Mizzou opened the day in 12th place, but the Tigers produced a 10-over-par 290, to surpass Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Nebraska on the team leader board. Missouri is just eight shots behind seventh place Texas Tech and will be paired with Iowa State and the Red Raiders on Wednesday.

"This was much more like it," Malnati said after the completion of the third round. "We know we have some good golfers on this team, it's just a matter of us all putting it together. This is a challenging course, one that makes you pay for mistakes, but we felt like we could put it all together and make a move."

A native of Dandridge, Tenn., Malnati opened his round with back to back bogeys, but played the final 16 holes at 3-under-par to finish with that 69. Included in his round were birdies on three of his final four holes, including an incredible 15-foot birdie putt on #7 to continue his late-round surge.

"I had to have a pep talk after those first couple of holes," Malnati said. "To be honest, I started to question myself a little bit, but I just kept with it and good things finally happened for me. To be honest, I didn't feel like I hit the ball that poorly yesterday (Monday). There just isn't much margin for error. If you hit the ball a little right or left of the fairway, you can find yourself in a lot of trouble."

Missouri was well balanced on Tuesday as all-five players saw their scores improve or hold steady. As a group, Missouri's team total of 290 tied for the third-lowest of the afternoon (behind Oklahoma State 287 and Kansas State 289) and Malnati (T-42, 83-80-69--232, T-43) was one of just three players to break par. Will Harrold ( T-27, 77-75-75--227), Ryne Fisher (T-27, 78-75-74--227), Chris Johnson (T-31, 79-78-72--229) and Tyler Hillis (T-49, 76-79-78--233) each continued the Tiger momentum and saw their scores improve by a combined seven strokes collectively.

Oklahoma State, the nation's #4-ranked club by Golfstat, leads the Championships after 54 holes with three-round scores of 293-288-287---868 (+28). Colorado is second at 298-283-871--290 (+31).

Baylor's Bill Allcorn continues to lead all individuals with a 1-under-par total of 209 through 54 holes. Allcorn was even par on Tuesday and is one shot up on Oklahoma State's Morgan Hoffman (even-par 210) and two shots better than Kansas State's Robert Streb (+1). Streb turned in the round of the day on Tuesday, shooting a 3-under-par 67, including four birdies and one bogey over his final nine holes.

The final round of play at the 2009 Big 12 Men's Golf Championships will conclude on Wednesday. The first groups tee off at 8 a.m. and weather permitting, the final round should conclude at approximately 2 p.m.

## MIZZOU MEN'S GOLF ##