No. 24 Gamecocks One Back of Top-Five at Norman Regional

NORMAN, Okla. — No. 24 South Carolina shot 295 (+7) as it slipped four spots back on the leaderboard at the NCAA Norman Regional on Tuesday. The Gamecocks are in sixth at 3-under, one shot back of Utah and five shots back of No. 7 Texas and No. 25 Ole Miss.
 
Carolina made the turn at 2-under today but was 9-over on the back nine, which has played much tougher so far this week.
 
“It was a tough day for the team, but we will have a good chance tomorrow to make it right,” said head coach Bill McDonald. “Evans (Lewis) and Nate (Franks) played well, but it’s going to take a total team effort the final round. This team has been resilient all spring, and handling a little adversity is maybe the kick in the pants they need to get their attention and focus.”
 
Redshirt senior Evans Lewis continued his solid play for the Gamecocks with a 1-under 71. He’s 3-under overall and T-8^th. Freshman Nathan Franks also played stayed as he shot 72 again to remain at even par for the tournament. He’s T-19^th.
 
Sophomore Rafe Reynolds and senior All-American Ryan Hall were the final two counting scores. Reynolds shot 75 (+3) with bogeys on three of his four final holes. Hall had a tough day with a 77 (+5), making three consecutive bogeys on holes 15-17.
 
Freshman Gene Zeigler, who fired an opening round 66 (-6) and was tied for the lead, shot 80 (+8). He was hurt by a triple bogey at the par-5 fifth hole.
 
No. 18 Auburn had the round of the day with a 12-under 276. They lead host and top-ranked Oklahoma by six shots at 20-under through 36 holes. Texas’ Travis Vick is the individual leader at 10-under after firing his second consecutive 67 (-5).
 
The top-five teams after Wednesday’s final round will punch their ticket to the 2022 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf Championship (May 27-June 1) at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. The leaderboard is bunched, with four teams within five shots of each other for spots 3-5.
 
The Gamecocks will be paired with No. 25 Ole Miss and Utah for the final round. Rafe Reynolds will lead things off on hole 10 beginning at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
 
2022 NCAA Norman Regional R2 Leaderboard
1. No. 18 Auburn – 556 (-20)
2. No. 1 Oklahoma – 562 (-14)
T3. No. 7 Texas – 568 (-8)
T3. No. 25 Ole Miss – 568 (-8)
5. No. 50 Utah – 572 (-4)
6. No. 24 South Carolina – 573 (-3)
7. No. 36 Louisville – 581 (+5)
8. No. 48 San Diego State – 583 (+7)
T9. Kansas State – 590 (+14)
T9. No. 37 Missouri – 590 (+14)
11. Kent State – 600 (+24)  
12. UT-Martin – 602 (+26)
13. Rider – 615 (+39)
 
2022 NCAA Norman Regional R2 Gamecock Leaderboard
T8. Evans Lewis – 141 (-3)
T19. Nathan Franks – 144 (E)
T28. Gene Zeigler – 146 (+2)
T33. Ryan Hall – 147 (+3)
T36. Rafe Reynolds – 148 (+4)
 
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