Razorbacks Rocket to 6th at NCAA Championship

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Taking advantage of the favorable morning tee times, Arkansas shot a 6-over-par 286 and moved from 14th place to sixth after 36 holes at the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, played at Grayhawk Golf Club’s Raptor Course (par 70, 7,289-yards).

The Razorbacks started the day tied for 14th and sat in 16th after their round was over Saturday as the afternoon wave just getting started. However, the teams’ average scores in the afternoon wave were nearly 25-over-par and the Razorbacks steadily climbed the leaderboard as the day progressed. Thanks to its strong day and being among the top 15 teams through 36 holes, Arkansas will once again be in the morning wave Sunday, starting at 8:32 am (CT) off hole 10.

The top 15 teams after Sunday’s third round will advance to play a fourth round Monday to determine the individual champion and the top eight teams advancing to match play, which begins Tuesday.

“We got off to a great start,” head coach Brad McMakin said. “We were fortunate to play in the morning round today. We had a couple of mistakes on the back nine but, all in all, I was really happy with the round. The scores in the afternoon show just how good the round was today. It was tough for those teams in the afternoon like it was for us yesterday. It is good to be above the cut line going into the third round. I have been very pleased with our first two rounds.”

Arkansas was 6-under as a team through the first six holes and made the turn at -2. The Hogs stumbled after the turn and were +9 through the first four holes on the difficult back nine. However, Arkansas steadied the ship to finish the inward nine at +8.

Arkansas was led by Julian Perico, Segundo Oliva Pinto and Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira.

Perico shot a bogey-free, 3-under-par 32 on the opening nine with birdies on holes 1, 4 and 8. He was 3-over on the back nine and closed the round with a par save chip and putt on 18, the hardest hole on the course Saturday. Overall, he shot 34 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for 28th with a 36-hole score of 4-over 144 (74-70).

Oliva Pinto also posted an even-par round thanks to 16 pars, a bogey (par-3, 5th hole) and a birdie (par-4, 14th hole). He jumped seven spots to ninth at 1-over for the Championship (71-70+141) and is four strokes off the lead.

Fernandez de Oliveira fired his second straight 71 and jumped up two spots into a tie for 14th (142 / +2). He had two bogeys and two birdies on the front. He opened the inward nine with a bogey, ran off six pars and birdied the par-4, 17th. However, he dropped a shot on the difficult 18th, but grinded his way to an impressive bogey.

“Segundo is ‘Mr. Postseason’ so I wasn’t surprised by his round today. He and Julian played really well today. Mateo was solid as a rock. If we can get a good counting score over the next two rounds, I think we can make it to match play.”

Wil Gibson shaved four strokes off his round-one score with a 5-over 75, despite a tough-luck triple bogey on the 12th. He moved up 16 places to 125th (79-75=154). Luke Long is tied for 138th (78-79=157).

2022 NCAA Championship
Results Thru Rd2
Par: 70 || Yards: 7,289

Team Standings:
1 #1 Oklahoma 287 275 562 +2
2 #3 Vanderbilt 282 282 564 +4
3 #2 Oklahoma State 289 277 566 +6
4 #5 North Carolina 288 281 569 +9
5 #6 Pepperdine 294 282 576 +16
6 #14 Arkansas 294 286 580 +20
7 #17 Auburn 285 296 581 +21
T8 #4 Arizona State 290 292 582 +22
T8 #7 Texas 291 291 582 +22
T10 #15 Georgia 291 292 583 +23
T10 #25 Kansas 286 297 583 +23
T12 #23 Ole Miss 297 287 584 +24
T12 #8 Texas Tech 297 287 584 +24
T14 #13Stanford 295 290 585 +25
T14 #27 Oregon 285 300 585 +25
T14 #10 Florida 300 285 585 +25
T17 #12 Texas A&M 300 287 587 +27
T17 #11 Georgia Tech 298 289 587 +27
19 #16 Wake Forest 303 285 588 +28
20 #18 Florida State 291 300 591 +31
21 #26 Arizona 286 306 592 +32
22 #38 Liberty 290 303 593 +33
23 #41 Brigham Young 295 302 597 +37
T24 #32 Ohio State 300 300 600 +40
T24 #44 Georgia Southern 295 305 600 +40
26 #33 North Florida 306 298 604 +44
27 #30 East Tennessee St. 297 308 605 +45
28 #31 South Florida 303 304 607 +47
29 #47 Utah 297 311 608 +48
30 #49 College of Charleston 305 313 618 +58

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