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When: Thursday-Saturday
Where: Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course, Columbus, Ohio
Who: Five of the top 11 teams in the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings: Alabama (1), Oklahoma State (5), Florida (6), Georgia Tech (8) and
Tennessee (11).
Scoop:
If Ohio State’s Scarlet Course plays anything like it did last summer,
expect some high scoring. Last July, Daniel Summerhays became the first
amateur to win on the Nationwide Tour when he shot 6-under 278 at the
Nationwide Children’s Hospital Invitational; Summerhays, who had
recently completed his junior year at BYU, was one of only 13 players
to break par. The cut came at 4 over.
Summerhays was one of a
handful of amateurs to earn sponsor invitations into the tournament.
Dustin Johnson was the only other one to make the cut, finishing T-50
at 7 over. Chris Kirk (77-70), Billy Horschel (73-76) and Jamie
Lovemark (73-76) were a combined 19 over and missed the cut.
The
AJGA held its Rolex Tournament of Champions at the Scarlet earlier that
month, and current Stanford freshman Sihwan Kim was the only player to
break par. He had to shoot a final-round 67 to finish at 1-under 283,
and he won by three shots.
Rival arrival: It seems only
fitting that Michigan’s first regional appearance in eight years will
come on the grounds of The Ohio State University, the Wolverines’
biggest rival. Michigan enters the Central as the 15 seed and No. 46 in
the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, but don’t be surprised if the Wolverines find a way into the title game by Saturday evening.
Michigan
finished second to Oklahoma State last weekend at the Maxwell, the
Wolverines’ sixth top-5 finish of the season, and they were led by
junior Bill Rankin, who won the individual race by four shots.
“It
is just a matter of playing well,” said Michigan coach Andrew Sapp. “We
just have to play to the level that we know we are capable of playing.
If we do that, we know we can advance. It’s never easy. It’s a matter
of everyone clicking.”
Surge and Tway: Watch out for
Oklahoma State if freshman Kevin Tway continues his current state of
play. Tway, the 2005 U.S. Junior champ, struggled early this season,
but he seems to be back in form and peaking at the right time for
the Cowboys. Tway is coming off runner-up finishes at the Big 12
Championship and the Maxwell; the Cowboys won the team title in each
event.
Three-peat?: Florida junior Billy Horschel is
going for the triple crown of the men’s postseason this week. His
freshman year, Horscel won the West Regional in Tucson, Ariz. Last
year, he won the East Regional in Alpharetta, Ga. Two down, one to go,
and wouldn’t you know it: This year, Horschel and the Gators are at the
Central. Just don’t remind him that next year the format changes to six
regionals.
Who can crack the top 10?: OK, picking
11th-seeded Wichita State isn’t a reach, but the Shockers might not
just advance, but could do so easily. They’ve won seven times this
season – including a 24-shot romp in the Missouri Valley Conference
Championship – and three different Shockers have won individual titles.
Ryan Spears is No. 17 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin
College Rankings, but it was sophomore Connor McHenry who won won the
conference individual title by four shots over fellow Shocker sophomore
Dustin Garza, winner of the Callaway Golf Invitational in March.
Fun fact: Oklahoma State is looking to advance to the NCAA Championship for the 62nd consecutive time.
1-2 punch:
The individual race at this site should be intriguing, with top-ranked
Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State and No. 2 Michael Thompson of Alabama
both in the field. Fowler is 2-0 against Thompson this year, having
beaten him by 12 shots in two common stroke-play starts (Puerto Rico
Classic, U.S. Collegiate).
Fowler may be coming off his worst
finish of the year, but that was only a T-13 at the Maxwell; the
phenomenal freshman has finished in the top 10 in the rest of his
starts this year. Thompson’s last start was the SEC Championship, where
he shot a final-round 65 April 20 to win his first title in a Crimson
Tide uniform.
Also in the Central field are Wake Forest’s Webb Simpson (No. 6 in the
Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings), Georgia Tech’s Chesson Hadley (9), Indiana’s Jorge Campillo (14), Spears (17) and Horschel (19).
Field:1. Alabama (SEC champion)
2. Oklahoma State (Big 12 champion)
3. Georgia Tech
4. Florida
5. Tennessee
6. Lamar (Southland Conference champion)
7. Wake Forest
8. Indiana
9. Texas A&M
10. Louisville
11. Wichita State (Missouri Valley Conference champion)
12. Kent State
13. Penn State
14. Arkansas
15. Michigan
16. TCU
17. Texas-Arlington
18. Illinois
19. Ohio State
20. Baylor
21. Colorado
22. Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley Conference champion)
23. Marquette (Big East champion)
24. Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference champions)
25. Cleveland State (Horizon League champion)
26. Loyola (Maryland) (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion)
27. Sacred Heart (Northeast Conference champion)
Individuals:1. Chris Baker, Iowa State
2. Clayton Rask, Minnesota
3. Josh Sandman, Notre Dame
4. Victor Almstrom, Minnesota
5. Brent Long, Western Kentucky
6. Jordan Weber, Northern Iowa
– Eric Soderstrom, Sean Martin, Asher Wildman
Posted: 5/14/2008
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