It was a difficult day for Chattanooga Mocs sophomore Paul Conroy at the NCAA Norman Regionals Tuesday. He shot 76 over his second 18 at Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club and heads into the final round tied for 48th.
A bogey-bogey start looked like it was going to turn around early. Birdie chances edged around the hole and you could feel a breakout coming in Norman. A birdie on the par 5 eighth seemed like the spark but then, the course’s best friend started to make an appearance. The Oklahoma wind began to bluster.
Another missed birdie chance on nine gave him 1 over at the turn.
It then got to be more than a bluster. He persevered and got back to level with a birdie on 13. And then the bad break. His drive was pulled left and came down on the hard cart path and kicked into a tree for an unplayable lie. It led to a double bogey that even with all the wind about, it was not into his sails.
“The first few holes, I got off to a slow start,” Conroy shared after the round. “The conditions were perfectly fine and then got progressively worse. It played harder in the afternoon, I think. I gave myself some looks on the front nine but really didn’t make much. Came to the back nine, I hit a few bad drives and then got a couple of bad breaks. The round just kind of got away from me in the end.
“Just looking forward to getting back out tomorrow, hopefully a better start making some birdies and holing some putts.”
No. 18 Auburn vaulted into the lead with a 12-under 276 providing a total of 556 (-20). That's six better than host and top-ranked Oklahoma at 562. No. 7 Texas (568) and No. 25 Ole Miss (568) are tied for third with Utah (572) holding the final qualifying spot by one over No. 24 South Carolina (573). There's a 4-way tie for the individual from a non-advancing team position at 3-under 141.
Conroy moves back to his original time slot at 11:01 a.m., Eastern time. He starts on No. 1 with Rider’s Louis Giovi and Middle Tennessee’s Michael Barnard. Live scoring and pairings links are above along with detailed results package.