Courtesy of LA Tech Athletics
NORMAN, Okla. – Louisiana Tech’s Sam Murphy is tied for 18th after the first round of the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Normal Regional after shooting a -1 on Monday at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club.
Murphy was able to get up and down for a par on the first hole despite missing the fairway on his opening tee shot of the day. However, he was unable to do so on the next two holes, carding back-to-back bogeys after missing both greens on holes two and three.
“There was good and bad on the course today,” said Murphy. “There is a low score to be had. It is attackable if you hit it in the right spots, but there is trouble that you can easily get into. I just needs to clean a few things up and make a few more putts. I got into a groove after the first few holes, trusted what I have been working on. You just have to trust your game and believe in it.”
The fifth-year senior settled in from there though, securing three straight pars before connecting on his first birdie of the day on hole seven. Playing 435 yards, he crushed his driver down the left side, getting a friendly bounce from the cart path to get near the green. His wedge shot hit the edge and rolled to within five feet, sinking the left-to-right putt to get to +1.
On the second par five of the day at hole eight, Murphy went hybrid on his second shot to get on the green in two. He would two-putt to get back to even par on the day.
“I thought Sam was good today,” said Tech head coach Matt Terry. “I know he was excited on the first tee. He made a nice par to get out of the gates. The next two holes, he may have been too amped up making bogeys. He settled into his round though.”
The birdie streak continued on hole nine as he hit perhaps his best shot of the day, a 9-iron from about 165 yards out into the wind and stuck it to within five feet. He tapped it the putt to get into the red for the first time as he made the turn to the back nine.
A trio of pars followed before Murphy used his driving length to birdie another par five, this one playing 594 yards out. He would go on to sink a 15-foot putt to get to -2.
Murphy ran into trouble though on the daunting 260-yard par three at hole 15 as his 4-iron hooked left into a bunker with the pin on the left side. An extremely difficult lie resulted in a double bogey to put him back Even with three holes to go.
“Other than one mistake off the 15-tee box on the par three, there was a lot of good today,” said Terry. “He just has to go out, keep making good shots and make a few more putts. He will get more confident on the speed of the greens and leaving the ball where he needs to.”
After back-to-back pars, including a sand save on hole 17, Murphy approached the last hole of the round, a 586-yard par five. He blasted his driver 386 yards into the middle of the fairway before knocking it onto the green from 200 yards out with a 7-iron. His eagle putt missed by an inch of going in, tapping in for birdie to finish at -1.
