Troy University Athletics
McGrady Struggles In Final Round
5/17/2008 5:00:00 AM | Golf
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. ? Troy University junior Michael McGrady didn't have the kind of day on Saturday that he had hoped for.
After bouncing back with a two-under 69 in the second round of the NCAA East Regional golf tournament at Council Fire Golf Club, McGrady opened his final round with a double-bogey on hole number 10 and never recovered.
“He had the same problem there that he had Thursday, hitting it into the right rough,” Troy golf coach Matt Terry said. “He had a good lie and made a good shot, but the ball hit the cart path and bounced out of bounds.
“After the double, he didn't make birdie on 11 and that got him down a little. He bogeyed 13 and 14 and never recovered. He hit the ball much better on the back nine, but had some bad luck on No. 2 and hit into the water.”
His final round score of six-over par 77 left him with a total score of 222, nine over par for the tournament. He finished the event tied for 105th out of 141 players.
Even though he didn't play as well as he'd hoped, McGrady said he is glad he got the opportunity to play.
“It was a great experience,” McGrady said. “Even though I didn't play well, I think I got better. It will help me next year because I will know more what to expect.”
Russell Henley of Georgia and Zach Sucher of UAB tied for top individual honors in the event, both finishing the three-day tournament at 13 under par, 200.
Henley helped his top-seeded Georgia team win the regional by 21 strokes over second place Augusta State. The Bulldogs finished at 41-under par for the tournament.
The top 10 teams in the event advance to the national championship tournament next weekend at West Lafayette, Ind. Georgia and Augusta State (-20) will be joined by UC Irvine (-16), Mississippi State (-14), UAB (-13), Auburn (-12), Charlotte (-8), East Tennessee (-7), Middle Tennessee (-6) and Virginia (-3).
The top two individual players not on teams advancing also will play in the national finals. Those two players were Joel Sjoholm of Georgia State, who finished fifth with a score of eight-under par, and Jurrian van der Vaart of Virginia Tech, who finished tied for sixth at seven-under par.
