Clemson Remains in 25th Place After 36 Holes of NCAA Tournament

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Jonathan Nielsen and Andrew Swanson both had rounds of three-over-par 75 on a day when the average score was 76, to lead Clemson to a 303 team score and a 27th place standing  after 36 holes of the NCAA National  men’s golf Tournament at the Omni LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, California.

The 30 teams will play 18 holes on Sunday and the field will be cut to the top 15 teams at the conclusion of the round.  Clemson is at 33 over par through 36 holes and is 11 strokes behind 15th place Stanford.    Virginia has the lead at one under par.

Clemson improved by three shots on Saturday with the team score of 303.  Nielsen had a one under par 35 on the back nine thanks to three birdies, including a birdie on the 600-yard par five 18th hole.   It was the best score by a Tiger on any nine holes this week.   The native of Denmark is in 40th place at five-over-par for the tournament  entering the final round.

Swanson is in a tie for 54th in the 156-player field after 36 holes after rounds of 75-75.  He shot even par on the back nine.

Thomas Higgins had a 76 in the second round.   He was one-under-par over his last 10 holes.  The run started when he made a birdie on the ninth hole by making a 25-yard chip-in from off the green.   He has a score of 156 after two rounds to stand in 128th place.

The story of the day for Clemson was the play of Sean Curran, a junior from Illinois who was playing in the Clemson lineup for the first time all year.  He had played in two tournaments as an individual.

Curran got off to a great start, making par on the first three holes.  He made a 30-foot putt for par on the third hole.  After a double bogey on the fourth hole, he battled back to even par at the end of the front nine by making three birdies.   But, he made two double bogeys on the back nine that put him at five over par for the round, but it was still an outstanding performance considering the difficulty of the course.

Calahan Keever was Clemson’s non counter for the day with a score of 83.

Clemson will play with LSU and Oklahoma State on Sunday with tee times between 4:17 and 5:01 pm.  Results will be available on goflstat.com.