Welch, Oklahoma Stumble in Round 2 at Maridoe Collegiate
With winds whipping, Patrick Welch and his Oklahoma Sooners stumbled down the stretch during the second round of the Maridoe Collegiate on Tuesday.
After leading for most of the day, the Sooners played the final five holes in eight over par to fall out of the lead.
They enter Wednesday’s final round four shots back of Arizona State.
“The wind popped up on us over on 13 and we struggled through some adversity with our finish. We didn’t do a great job coming down the stretch today, but we are learning. We are still right where we need to be with an opportunity tomorrow. I know that our guys will be ready for their moment,” said Head Coach Ryan Hybl after the round.
Oklahoma will tee off at 1 p.m. eastern time. Golf Channel begins coverage at 4 p.m.
The Sooners will look to claim the 29th win of the Hybl era Wednesday and are in line for the 39th top-three finish in the last four seasons, marking the best stretch in program history.
Welch’s 2nd Round
Starting the day in 20th, Welch began his second round with five straight pars to slowly climb the leaderboard.
The former Classical star dropped birdies at six and eight to shoot up the leaderboard and into the top ten.
Making the turn, Welch made par on holes 10-14, before an incredible chip in on the 15th hole got him to three-under for the day.
However, disaster struck after that.
Welch missed a short par putt on the par-5 16th hole.
On the par-3 17th, Welch put his tee shot off the back of the green and could not make an up and down for par.
On the 18th hole, Welch left a long birdie putt several feet short and then missed the par putt.
He finished with a 72 on the day.