May 2, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The third round of the Big Ten men's golf championships spread out the field with Ohio State and Illinois swapped positions to give the Illini the lead entering the fourth and final round. The Nittany Lions fell three slots to ninth place, sitting 18-strokes behind the first place team at 30-over par (882). Nittany Lion Kevin Foley (Sommerville, N.J.) is tied for second after three rounds.
The Nittany Lions carded a consecutive 12-over par round to conclude the second day of play. Their three-round, two-day total remains at 290-296-296 (882). Penn State, led by Foley, concluded its third round in ninth place and sits in front of Michigan and Michigan State.
Eric Chun of Northwestern remains in first place at four-under par heading into tomorrow's final round with a four-stroke cushion. Chun shot even par (71) to follow his second round, tournament-best 68. Penn State's Foley is in a three-way tie for second place, moving up five spots from yesterday. Foley, along with Wisconsin's Dan Woltman and Illinois's Matt Hoffman, enters the fourth round just four strokes shy of Chun in first place. Foley shot his second 70 of the tournament (-1), to give him a three-round total of 213, even par.
"It felt good to finish this way today," said Foley. "I knew I had to do something to give myself a chance tomorrow. I was playing well all day and I tried to stay patient knowing that eventually one would fall. When a shot did fall, I had two good holes at the end."
Senior Chad Bricker (Waynesboro, Pa.) stepped up his play for the Nittany Lions in the third round with a 71, even par. Bricker improved his score by eight strokes between the second and third rounds and enters tomorrow's final round tied for 21 with rounds of 71-79-71.
Junior Jim Markovitz (Bridgeville, Pa) finished the third round tied for 37 with rounds of 73-70-81. Markovitz finished the day at 11-over par (224). Freshmen Nick Archambault (Q.C., Canada) shot one stroke better in the third round than the second, finishing the day at five-over par (76). Archambault's tournament total is 17-over par (230). Junior T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) stands tied at 51 with his second consecutive 79 in the third round. Howe's rounds are 73-79-79, 18-over par.
"For tomorrow I think that our game planning will stay the same, we just need to execute," said Foley. "I feel that my mindset is right and I am going out there knowing that I can't make a mistake tomorrow. It is going to come down to putting, so I am going to spend a lot of time out there on the putting green tonight. If I play well, who knows what could happen tomorrow."
The fourth and final round of the Big Ten men's golf championships will begin Sunday morning at 8 a.m. Following the 18 holes of play will be the award ceremony, where the Big Ten champion and individual champion will be crowned. Live stats will be available via live scoring at championships central: http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-golf/2009bigtens.html.
At 3 p.m. ET on May 24, the Big Ten Network will have coverage of the Big Ten Men's Golf Championships. For the complete television schedule for the 2009 Big Ten Spring Championships and tournaments please visit www.bigten.org or www.BigTenNetwork.com.
Round 4 Tee-Times 8:50- T.J. Howe 9:00- Nick Archambault 9:10- Jim Markovitz 9:20- Chad Bricker 9:30- Kevin Foley