Men's Golf Drops To Fourth At Big 12 Championship

Abraham Ancer turns in another 3-under 69 to remain atop the individual leaderboard.

April 28, 2012

2012 Men's Big 12 Championship
Team Leaderboard | Player Leaderboard | Photo Gallery

	Team Standings	1	2	3	4	Total
1.	No. 15 Texas A&M	296	286	286	-	868
2.	No. 1 Texas	302	292	283	-	877
3.	No. 46 Texas Tech	290	298	290	-	878
4.	No. 28 Oklahoma	292	292	296	-	880
5.	No. 32 Baylor	304	297	290	-	891

	OU Individuals	1	2	3	4	Total
1.	A. Ancer	72	69	69	-	210
T11.	M. Gellerman	74	72	76	-	222
13.	C. Saxon	74	76	73	-	223
T27.	R. Pumphrey	72	75	80	-	227
T44.	W. Kropp	79	79	78	-	236

OU Men's Golf Central

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TRINITY, Texas -- The 28th-ranked University of Oklahoma men’s golf team fell two spots Saturday the Big 12 Championship in Trinity, Texas. The Sooners carded a third-round 296 (+8) and are in fourth place at the 7,330-yard, par-72 Whispering Pines Golf Club with one round remaining.

No. 15 Texas A&M separated itself from the field in the third round, recording a 2-under 286. Top-ranked Texas turned in the best round of the day, a 5-under 283, and climbed to second place. No. 46 Texas Tech is in third place at 14 over (two shots in front of OU) and No. 32 Baylor is in fifth at 27 over.

Oklahoma's three-round 880 (+16) has it 12 strokes behind leader Texas A&M and just three out of second place. The Sooners will have to put together a sound team performance Sunday to continue to compete for a conference championship.

“It can be such a weird dynamic in golf, because Abe (Ancer) played great again today and Charlie Saxon played another pretty good round, but our other three guys were not very good at all,” said OU head coach Ryan Hybl. “Unfortunately, it happened at a pretty bad time for us. But we have to bounce back and get after it tomorrow. There’s no reason to sit here and dwell on it. In team golf, a lot of shots can be made up in a four- or five-hole stretch as long as you play together as a team. Hopefully we can do that tomorrow.”

The Sooners entered the third round riding the back of Abraham Ancer. With his team stalling Saturday, Ancer needed another big day to keep OU in contention for the program’s second Big 12 Championship. The junior from Mission, Texas, responded with his second consecutive round of 69.

“He’s just been so good,” said Hybl of Ancer this weekend. “I’ve been walking with (Michael) Gellerman for the most part these first two days, but every time I look back or go speak to Abe he’s got a good attitude. It reminds me of the attitude he had at NCAA Regionals last year when he won. So I’m looking for him to go out tomorrow and be the same guy he’s been; being aggressive when he can and realizing when he needs to be conservative. He’ll be fine.”

Ancer opened his day with a birdie on the first hole after slipping on his tee shot and driving the ball into a fairway bunker. Unfazed, he stuck his approach shot within two feet of the pin and rolled in his putt.

“That got me going,” said Ancer. “I had the perfect yardage for my 58-degree (wedge) and just hit it like a normal shot. It got to within two feet.”

Ancer added two more birdies on No. 5 and No. 8. He recorded just his second bogey in three rounds on the 14th hole, but closed the day with his 12th birdie of the event on the par-4 18th hole. Ancer remains atop the individual leaderboard with a three-round 210 (-6) and has a two-stroke lead over Texas' Dylan Frittelli.

“I played very similar to the way I played yesterday,” said Ancer. “I was hitting the ball well off the tee, and if I mishit one it was still in play. My second shots were pretty accurate. If you have good distance control here, you’re going to have good looks. It worked out for me.”

Ancer said he’ll stay focused during Sunday’s final round.

“I’m not even going to think about the lead tomorrow,” said Ancer. “I’m just going to use the same plan and play my game.”

Michael Gellerman fired a third-round 76 (+4) and fell two spots to an 11th-place tie. The freshman recorded three bogeys, a double bogey and a single birdie (on hole No. 5).

Charlie Saxon turned in his best round of the event, a 1-over 73. The freshman was primed to stir things up on the leaderboard by recording four birdies on the day, but a double bogey and three bogeys on the back nine forced him just outside of the top 10. He sits in 13th place with a three-round 223 (+7).

Riley Pumphrey failed to find his rhythm in the third round, carding eight bogeys. The senior fell 15 spots to a 27th-place tie with a three-round 227 (+11).

Junior Will Kropp opened the day with a birdie, but not much went right after that. Kropp finished the day with a 6-over 78 and is in a tie for 44th place at 236 (+20).

Oklahoma will be paired with Texas Tech for Sunday's final round, teeing off from the first hole at 8:18 a.m. CT. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

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