The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Morris Williams Intercollegiate
No. 1 Men's Golf holds six-stroke lead after first day of Morris Williams Intercollegiate
03.16.2012 | Men's Golf
March 16, 2012
AUSTIN, Texas -- After 36 holes and 14,824 yards of golf, Texas (281-280) concluded the first day of the 46th annual Morris Williams Intercollegiate in first place at The University of Texas Golf Club. Texas finished the first round in first place at 3-under-par before posting an even stronger second round finish of 4-under.
A pair of second round 69s by freshman Jordan Spieth and junior Julio Vegas secured a six-stroke lead for the Longhorns by early evening on Friday. Texas has five players in the top-12 heading into tomorrow's final round of play.
Spieth (70-69), ranked first in the nation, moved up from a first-round sixth-place finish to third place after the second round. Spieth had three birdies in the second round while making par on every other hole except for the second hole where he tallied his sole bogey.
Tied with Spieth in third place is Vegas (70-69), who totaled eight birdies on the first 36 holes. In the second round, Vegas birdied three times and only bogeyed once en route to a 2-under finish.
Senior Alex Moon (71-68), competing as an indivdual, joins Spieth and Vegas tied for third place. Moon capped off a strong first day with three consecutive (six overall) birdies in the second round. Moon, who notched an even-par first round, shaved three strokes off in the second round to move up from 12th- to third place.
Second-ranked senior Dylan Frittelli (70-70) concluded the first 36 holes of golf at 2-under and tied for sixth place along with five others, including teammate junior Cody Gribble (71-69), who is also competing as an individual. Frittelli had eight birdies on the day, including two consecutive birdies in both rounds of play.
Sophomore Toni Hakula (71-72), ranked 43rd in the nation, is tied with North Texas's Ty Spinella at 18th place at 1-over. Freshman Kramer Hickok (74-72) knocked two strokes off of his first-round score to jump eight spots from 35th place to 27th place.
Senior Adam Wennerstrom (71-73) finished out the first two rounds in 20th place. Senior Brett Spencer (80-78) shaved two strokes off of his first round score to finish out the first round 7-over and move up two spots. Both Wennerstrom and Spencer are competing as individuals in the tournament.
At the conclusion of the first two rounds, No. 1 Texas (281-280) holds a six-stroke advantage over No. 19 New Mexico (285-282). Texas A&M (290-281) is in third place, ten strokes behind the Longhorns. The Morris Williams Intercollegiate concludes tomorrow with a split-tee start beginning at 8:15 a.m. Central.
Texas Post-round Quotes
Assistant Coach Ryan Murphy
On Texas' strong finish: Well I thought it was terrific. I thought our effort top-to-bottom was terrific, even our individuals did well - Alex Moon had a great day, Cody Gribble had a great day, then the guys we expect to play well played well. Dylan, Jordan, and Vegas played well. So all in all it was a great day
On whether he is experiencing butterflies due to having the team alone today in Coach John Fields' absence (due to family illness): No, not with these guys. They take care of their business. We do not have to worry a lot. John Paul, our volunteer assistant, also brings a lot to the table and has helped this team a lot. I feel comfortable with these guys
On encouraging the team not to think about the expectations: We encourage them to just focus on the golf course. Have a game plan coming in. Know how you are going to play each hole. Not think about outcome or the opponents, just play the golf course. We will see where everyone stands at the end.
On moving the tees for tomorrow: We want to give them a good taste of the golf course tomorrow so our game plan is to move the tees as far back as they will go. We do not want to make any holes unfair if they are back into the wind, but yes, we would like for the visiting teams to see our whole golf course.
Freshman Jordan Spieth
On his play today: I feel like I played good. Obliviously, our team came into the tournament feeling that we were the best team and that we were expected to win, so a little bit of that expectation is riding on the start. I know that we got off to a little of a slow start but we were able to come through. Now, we have a good lead going into tomorrow and that is what really matters - the team playing well. Individually I was consistent, playing somewhat boring golf. I had four three-putts and those were my only bogeys. I will work on that tomorrow, but regardless I think we are all in the position we wanted to be in going into the last round.
On how playing in PGA TOUR events effects his game at a collegiate level: It definitely helps. It helps get rid of nerves pretty quickly because the pressure I experience during the Tour events is a lot different than what you can have at a college event, but then again I have not played in a National Championship yet. It is a lot easier to get calm and get into my rhythm when I am out there starting out but when cameras or people come out, having that happen before at a much bigger stage makes it easier to handle here.
Team standings (through two rounds)
1. TEXAS - 281-280=561 (-7)
2. New Mexico - 285-282=567 (-1)
3. Texas A&M - 290-281=571 (+3)
4. TCU - 284-289=573 (+5)
5. North Texas - 287-289=576 (+8)
6. Texas Tech - 289-292=581 (+13)
7. Wake Forest - 300-290=590 (+22)
T8. Sam Houston State - 300-292=592 (+24)
T8. College of Charleston - 292-300=592 (+24)
10. Texas-Arlington - 298-295=593 (+25)
11. St. Johns - 301-301=602 (+34)
12. Utah - 305-320=625 (+57)
Top-11 individual standings (through two rounds):
1. Geoff Shaw, Texas A&M - 65-71=136 (-6)
2. Cameron Peck, Texas A&M - 72-66=138 (-4)
T3. Alex Moon *, Texas - 71-68=139 (-3)
T3. Jordan Spieth, Texas - 70-69=139 (-3)
T3. Julio Vegas, Texas - 70-69=139 (-3)
T6. Johan deBeer, TCU - 68-72=140 (-2)
T6. James Erkenbeck, New Mexico - 68-72=140 (-2)
T6. Dylan Frittelli, Texas - 70-70=140 (-2)
T6. Gavin Green, New Mexico - 73-67=140 (-2)
T6. Cody Gribble *, Texas - 71-69=140 (-2)
T6. Jordan Russell, Texas A&M - 72-68=140 (-2)
Additional Texas player standings (through two rounds):
T18. Toni Hakula - 71-72=143 (+1)
T27. Kramer Hickok - 74-72=146 (+4)
Texas individual standings (through two rounds):
T20. Adam Wennerstrom - 71-73=144 (+2)
T65. Brett Spencer - 80-78=158 (+16)
*competing as individuals
