Johnson leads Tigers in NCAA Regional first round
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (auburntigers.com) – First-team All-SEC Michael Johnson fired a 3-under 69 to lead No. 8 Auburn in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional first round at Ol’ Colony Golf Course on Monday. The Tigers are in sixth, two shots off the cutline with a 6-over 294.
No. 5 Georgia leads at 4-under 284 followed by No. 17 South Carolina (287), Kentucky (288), UNLV (290), Alabama (292), Auburn (294), Colorado (296), College of Charleston (298), Lipscomb (302), Kansas (308), Southern Illinois (314), Charleston Southern (315) and Harvard (323).
“Our leader played a great round of golf today,” said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard. “The golf course is hard. It’s difficult, and the wind picked up on the back nine. We didn’t really handle it well for the majority-speaking. We dropped a lot of shots on 16 and 18 and made a couple of bogeys on the par 5 14th.
“There are two more days. They aren’t putting five teams through after today. I do know that. We have a lot of work to do, and I’m looking forward to the next two days and seeing what happens.”
After bogeying his opening hole, Johnson, a Ben Hogan Award and Jack Nicklaus Award semifinalist, made four birdies at Nos. 3, 6, 10 and 18 to tie his career NCAA Regional low set in last year’s first round in Lubbock, Texas.
“I got off to a shaky start with a bogey,” said Johnson. “I didn’t hit a good shot the entire hole. Besides that, it was pretty easy. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. I didn’t make too many birdie putts, but I made a lot of par putts. I kind of kept my momentum, and it was a pretty good round.
“Fortunately for us, we have two more days, and we have plenty of time to even win the golf tournament.”
Johnson trails a trio of leaders by one shot, Colorado’s Jeremy Paul and the Georgia duo of Greyson Sigg and Zach Healy.
“He had a great round, very steady,” said Clinard of Johnson. “It could have been a lot lower had a few more putts dropped. The greens are great. The superintendent here has done a phenomenal job. The golf course is tough. It is a good test, and I think the five best teams will get through because of that.”
Will Long, who was in the lineup for the first time in a month, is tied for 18th at 1-over 73. The Gastonia, N.C., native had five birdies on the day at Nos. 2, 4, 10, 11 and 14.
Auburn will tee off in Tuesday’s second round at 8:20 am CT off No. 1 with UNLV and Alabama. The third and final round is Wednesday.
The top five teams and one individual not on those teams qualify for the 120th NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in Eugene, Ore., at The Eugene Country Club May 27-June 1.
