KU drops a spot on day two of Big 12 Championship

TULSA, Okla. – Although junior Charlie Hillier posted an even-par 70 on the third round, the Kansas men’s golf team dropped down to eighth place on the Big 12 Championship scoreboard after a third-round team score of 294. 

The Southern Hills Country Club front nine once again proved difficult for the five Jayhawk golfers, but the team’s 15 bogeys on the back nine was more than either of the two previous rounds’ back nine showings.

“We got in a bad spot early,” said Kansas head coach Jamie Bermel. “We picked up a lot of bogeys (Tuesday). Fortunately, only counted one hole worse than a bogey, which can be easy to do on this course. We managed things pretty well, but we’re going to have to be better next round.”

Hillier’s even-par outing was the best third-round performance on the team, and was tied for the fourth-best individual showing on the day. The ability to control his shots and make putts resulted in a three-spot jump up the individual leaderboard. With Hillier’s four birdies added on the day, he now has nine overall, which is tied for the seventh-most in the tournament. Hillier currently sits at 5-over on the event, which is tied for 11th place. 

Coming in with a 1-over 71 on the day was sophomore Andy Spencer, who now is tied for 17th place at 6-over. After a three-putt that caused a bogey on his 11th hole, Spencer caught fire and rattled off three-consecutive birdies. The hot-streak jumped Spencer all the way up to ninth place, before back-to-back birdies dropped him out of the top-10. While he surrendered his spot in the top-10, Bermel knows that Spencer’s performance was crucial for the team’s position.

“He made some big putts there towards the end,” said Bermel. “Those three birdies in a row really helped our team out.”

Behind Spencer was freshman Harry Hillier, who ended the day with a 5-over 75, equaling the score he shot in Monday’s first round. Now, at 11-over on the event, Harry Hillier sits four strokes outside of a spot in the top-20. 

Senior Daniel Sutton struggled with the challenging Southern Hills Country Club course, as he finished the day with an 8-over 80, bringing his overall score to 21-over, tied for 46th. While the course bested Sutton, he did manage to pick up two birdies over the span of three holes on the front. This contributed to a cumulative seven Jayhawk birdies over a four-hole stretch on the front nine that helped the team maintain its eighth-place position.

As the only other senior on the Kansas men’s golf team, Daniel Hudson also struggled to decipher the course. The senior’s 11-over 81 marked his highest round this season by four strokes, and tied the highest total of his career at Kansas. 

With just five strokes separating Kansas from a three-spot jump, Bermel is expecting his seniors to have better fourth-round showings for his team.

“We’ve got to get better play out of our seniors,” said Bermel. “Neither of them played well, but they’re both much better golfers than their scores show. I’m hoping that both of the Dan’s can have better showings (Wednesday).”

The Jayhawks will begin Wednesday’s fourth and final round at 8:22 a.m. CT, when Daniel Sutton will kickstart a cold and rainy day. Live-scoring will be available at golfstat.com.

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