Oregon Continues to lead the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
Oregon's Norman Xiong (Oregon Athletics Photo)
PALM DESERT, CA (February 18, 2017) -- University of Oregon continues to lead a shootout at the the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate with players taking full advantage of the soft conditions caused by Friday's heavy rain.
The defending national champs fired a 17-under 271 in Saturday's second round and currently sit at 23-under, four shots ahead of University of Colorado. Colorado fired one of the most impressive rounds we've season so far in 2017, an incredible 22-under 266 to vault them into contention.
Looking first at some of Oregon's notable players, let's start with the freshman Norman Xiong. Starting the day with the individual lead, Xiong birdied his first four holes on his way to a 7-under 29 on his opening nine. An even-par back-nine gave Xiong a 65 which has him four shots ahead of TCU's Stefano Mazzoli in the medalist race.
Matching his 65 was redshirt senior Wyndham Clark who had a clean seven birdie, no bogey scorecard. The nations top ranked golfer, Clark is looking for his 2nd consecutive college win (the first coming at the Arizona Intercollegiate) and currently sits in a tie for 3rd with teammate Edwin Yi, each five back of their teammate Xiong.
Now back to Colorado. The Buffalos had four players in the 60's including an 8-under 64 from their leader Jeremy Paul who had nine birdies on the day. Ethan Freeman added a 66 while John Souza and Yannik Paul added a 67 and 69 respectively. The total was 25 shots better than their first round.
Oregon and Colorado have created quite a bit of separation as the next closest team is Kansas, 16 shots off of Oregon's pace. The three will tee off together at 8:40 am local time at the 7322-yard Classic Club.
ABOUT THE
Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate
54-hole men's college tournament hosted by the
University of Wyoming. Team (best four scores out
of
five players) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information