Kluver Still Out in Front at Maridoe; Jayhawks Sitting in 6th
CARROLLTON, Texas – Luke Kluver birdied his final two holes Monday to shoot even par and remain at four-under and in first place at the Maridoe Collegiate Invitational at Maridoe Golf Club.
Kluver has a two-shot lead over Kyle Hogan from Texas Tech heading into the final round Tuesday. Kluver and Hogan are the only two players in the field under par.
As a team, the Jayhawks had a 10-shot improvement from Sunday’s first round and sit in sixth place at +26. Oklahoma State is leading the way at +16. Baylor, Pepperdine, Texas and host North Texas round out the top five. The Jayhawks sit four shots out of the top five heading into the final day.
Kluver opened his second round Monday with 11 straight pars. He ran into some trouble on No. 12 and double bogeyed the par-four hole. After four more straight pars, Kluver birdied the par-three 17th and the par-four 18th to post an even-par 72 for the second round. The Nebraska native is the only player in the field to have shot even par or better in each of the first two rounds.
Kluver’s 72 was the second-best score of the day for the Jayhawks. Harry Hillier picked up five birdies on the back nine and shot a two-under 70. Hillier birdied Nos. 11, 13, 16, 17 and 18. He was one-over at the turn before firing a 33 on the back.
“I thought the golf course was playing a little easier today with less wind,” Coach Jamie Bermel said. “Harry posted a good round and Luke backed up his first round with a solid even par round. Again today, we struggled to get a fourth score. Tuesday, we need to get all five guys going, and see if we can make up some ground.”
Overall, Hillier is +8 for the tournament and tied for 28th. Also tied there is William Duquette, who shot a 75 in the second round for the Jayhawks. Duquette picked up birdies at No. 1 and No. 17 and went 38-37 on his scorecard.
Ben Sigel is tied for 62nd at +19, while Jeff Doty is tied for 69th at +21.
The Jayhawks will wrap up play at the Maridoe Collegiate on Tuesday with the final 18 holes.
