May 30, 2015
Live Scores / Tee Times
Video: DeChambeau after Round 2
BRADENTON, Fla. (SMU) -- SMU junior Bryson DeChambeau carded tournament-best 5-under 67 during the second round of the NCAA Championship, moving into sole possession of first place by two strokes at 7-under par overall at The Concession Golf Club on Saturday. The Mustangs are tied for 20th on the team leaderboard.
DeChambeau's stellar round featured five birdies and an eagle. The Clovis, California, native was 3-under through two holes after getting a birdie on No. 2 and then an eagle on No. 3. Overall, DeChambeau has just three bogeys through two rounds at the difficult Concession Golf Club.
"A chip-in on 2 and 3 really kick-started my round," DeChambeau said. "From there on out, I felt like if I just kept hitting balls in the fairway and making putts, I could go deep. The main part was on 10, I was a little nervous on the tee shot, but I made a really good drive to keep me going and made par there and birdied 11, which was a great 20-footer that kept me in it as well. But, I also made a lot of good five-footers for par, which also kept me in it. There was one mishap on 17, I didn't hit my best, but I capitalized on 18."
DeChambeau has brought a fresh approach mentally to the NCAA Championships, and he credits that for the success he's had through the first half of the event.
"I think my mindset is completely different," DeChambeau told reporters after the round. "I'm not focusing on my future or my past; I'm focusing on what I have to deal with right now. If I can take care of what I am taking care of when I'm hitting the shots on the golf course, that's all I can ask for.
"Managing my game has been a big part of this week. I made sure that when I came out here, I knew where I needed to hit it. Instead of focusing on other things, you just have to place it in the right places and I've been able to do that quite nicely throughout these two days."
The junior co-captain also impressed SMU head coach Jason Enloe, who described his day as "about as good of a round as (he's) ever seen."
As a team, SMU dropped nine positions from 11th to a tie for 20th with South Carolina. Junior Ryan Burgess shot a 6-over 78, and both freshman Ben Baxter and Andrew Buchanan carded 7-over 79's to fill out SMU's 15-over par team scorecard on Saturday.
"The course is hard, but we are not happy with our performance from the other four guys today," Enloe said. "Today we just needed to post a bunch of 75's and let Bryson carry us. Hopefully we rebound with a solid day tomorrow and sneak into the top 15. I expect they will play better tomorrow."
The top eight teams after four rounds of stroke play advance to the match play playoff that begins Tuesday. USC leads the tournament at 2-under, three shots ahead of second-place Illinois. Georgia, LSU, USF, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech round out the top seven spots, with San Diego State and TCU tied for eighth. No. 1-ranked Florida State is one shot back from a transfer position in 10th.
DeChambeau is two strokes ahead of Illinois' Thomas Detry in the individual race, with LSU's Zach Wright three shots back and both Paul Dunne (UAB) and Sean Crocker (USC) four strokes behind in fourth.
SMU will tee off tomorrow on hole No. 1 with UCLA and South Carolina at 7:30 a.m. ET/6:30 a.m. CT.
