March 27, 2015
LIVE SCORES / TEE TIMES
STANFORD, Calif. (SMU) -The SMU Mustangs moved into third place after the second day at The Goodwin, improving by six positions after carding a 12-under 268 team score on Friday. SMU's score was the lowest of the day, one better than UAB's 269.
"What can I say... the guys played like I know they can," head coach Jason Enloe said. "We are making a lot of birdies and making fewer mistakes. Tomorrow's round should be very exciting."
The Mustangs will enter the final round six shots off the lead of UAB, which sits at 19-under par. SMU began the day in ninth place on the 24-team leaderboard, and was one of just seven schools to shoot under par on Friday.
Three Mustangs shot 4-under 66's on Friday - junior Bryson Dechambeau, sophomore Andrew Buchanan and freshman Ben Baxter. DeChambeau went eagle-birdie-par over his final three holes to push SMU three shots up the leaderboard. Buchanan's bogeyless round featured four birdies, while Baxter recorded five birdies against one bogey. Buchanan's round was an eight-stroke improvement over his first round score on Thursday.
Junior Austin Smotherman gave SMU its fourth counting score, shooting an even-par 70 for the second straight day. Fellow junior Ryan Burgess carded a 3-over 73 after starting the day with a birdie on the first hole.
"We will need Ryan going forward," Enloe said. "I believe in him and the rest of the guys. I'm happy that were able to put up a great score on the board and climb into contention."
SMU used a hot start early to springboard its run toward the top end of the leaderboard, with the five players combining to total 13 birdies to shoot 8-under on the front. The Mustangs have also excelled on par 5's through two rounds, shooting 18-under on the longest holes on the course.
Behind UAB on the leaderboard is UNLV (15-under), SMU (13-under) and TCU (11-under), with event host Stanford rounding out the top five (9-under). UNLV's John Oda and UAB's Will Cannon will enter the final round tied for the individual lead at 12-under, with Stanford's Maverick McNealy (nine-under), San Jose State's Cody Blick (eight-under) and DeChambeau (seven-under) rounding out the top five. Baxter is one of five players tied for seventh.
SMU will tee off on the front nine at 1:21 p.m. PT (3:21 p.m. CT) Saturday, grouped with UAB and UNLV.
