Suh helps Southern Cal move into second at NCAA Championship

   With Justin Suh, a freshman from San Jose, Calif., taking over the individual lead, Southern California, No. 3 in the latest Golfstat rankings, moved into second place in the team chase behind front-running Vanderbilt following Day 2 of the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship Saturday at the Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

   Suh added a 3-under 67 over the 7,014-yard, par-70 Eugene Country Club layout to his opening-round 68 to take sole control of the top spot at 5-under 135.

   San Diego State’s Nehum Mendoza III, a junior from San Diego, and Alabama’s Robby Shelton, a junior from Wilmer, Ala., are tied for second at 4-under 136. Mendoza, one of the three co-leaders following an opening-round 67, had a 1-under 69 while Shelton had the day’s best round, a 4-under 66, after opening with a 70.

    Vanderbilt, ranked eighth, added an even-par 280 to its opening-round 283 for a 3-over 563 total. The Commodores were led by Matthias Schwab, a junior from Austria who had a 2-under 68 and is one of nine players tied for sixth at 1-under 139.

   Also for Vanderbilt, Theo Humphrey, a sophomore from Greenwich, Conn., is tied for 14^th at even-par 140 following a 73, the Commodores’ worst score of the day, Will Gordon, a freshman from Davidson, N.C., is tied for 34^th at 2-over 142 following an even-par 70, Patrick Martin, a freshman from Birmingham, Ala., is tied for 53^rd at 4-over 144 following a 1-over 71, and Carson Jacobs, a senior from Hendersonville, Tenn., is tied for 125^th at 151 after bouncing back from an opening-round 80 with a 1-over 71.

   Southern Cal also got a 1-under 69 from Rico Hoey, a senior from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. who is in the large group tied for sixth at 1-under 139.

   Arkansas, ranked 21^st, is alone in third place at 6-over 566 following a 4-over 284. Host Oregon, ranked 20^th, had the day’s best score, a 3-under 277, and is tied for fourth at 8-over 568 with defending champion LSU, ranked 12^th. LSU had a solid 2-over 282. Alabama, ranked 17^th, is alone in sixth place at 9-over 569, after a 1-under 279.

   A couple of heavyweights, No. 2 Texas, the Big 12 champion, and No. 4 Illinois, the Big Ten champion, are tied for seventh at 10-over 570. Both made strong moves Saturday with the Longhorns carding a 1-over 280 while the Fighting Illini matched par with a 280.

   Two more Pac-12 entries, No. 7 Arizona State and No. 11 California, are tied for ninth at 11-over 571. Arizona State posted a 1-over 281 and California had a 4-over 284.

   The immediate goal is to be among the top 15 teams that make the cut following Sunday’s third round.  That will give you a chance to make the final eight following Monday’s fourth round that will battle it out in match play beginning Tuesday.

   Top-ranked Stanford is in danger of not making the cut following Sunday’s third round. The Pac-12 champion Cardinal had a 294 Saturday following an opening-round 292 and is tied for 26^th at 26-over 586.

   Florida’s Gordon Neale, a freshman from Dove Canyon, Calif., added a 3-under 67 to his opening-round 70 and is alone in fourth place at 3-under 137.  California’s K.K. Limbhasut, a sophomore from Loma Linda, Calif. is alone in fifth place at 2-under 138 following his second straight 69.

   Then comes the nine-player logjam at 1-under 139. Joining Vanderbilt’s Schwab and Southern Cal’s Hoey at that figure are: Clemson’s Stephen Behr, a graduate student from Florence, S.C. who had a 69; Arizona State’s Jon Rahm, a senior from Spain and the Pac-12 champion who had a 68; Georgia’s Lee McCoy, a senior from Clarksville, Ga. who had a 70; South Carolina’s Will Starke, a senior from Chapin, S.C.; Alabama’s Jonathan Hardee, a sophomore  from Greer, S.C. who had a 69; Oregon’s Edwin Yi, a freshman from Beaumont, Calif. who had a 68; and TCU’s Paul Barjon, a senior from New Caledonia who had a 70.

   Wake Forest freshman Kyle Sterbinsky, a Yardley resident and a Peddie School product, added a 73 to his opening-round 70 and is tied for 48^th at 3-over 143. The 14^th-ranked Demon Deacons have work to do to make the top 15. They are tied for 20^th at 18-over 578 after a pair of 289 scores.