ETSU’s Kristjansson moves up 48 spots at NCAA Championships

BRADENTON, Fla. – Gudmundur Kristjansson used a strong start and finish to move up the leaderboard following second-round play of the NCAA Championship on Saturday afternoon at Concession Golf Club.

Kristjansson started the round with two straight birdies and collected three consecutive birdies to end the day en route to finishing with an even-par 72. The Buccaneer junior, who shot a 6-over 78 in Friday’s opening round, leaped 48 spots up the leaderboard and is tied for 60th at 6-over-par 150.

Kristjansson, who started the round on the back nine, was 2-under after his first three holes but registered three bogeys in his next six holes, moving him to 1-over when making the turn. From there, Kristjansson bogeyed a pair of par-4s at No. 2 and No. 5 but started his flurry of three consecutive birdies on the par-5, 606-yard No. 7 and ended the day with his fifth birdie of the round on the par-4, 435-yard No. 9.

SMU’s Bryson Dechambeau shot a 5-under 67 to take over sole possession of the lead at 7-under-par 137. Dechambeau was one of eight golfers to begin the day two shots off the lead in fifth place, but the 28th-ranked golfer totaled one eagle, five birdies and two bogeys to gain a two-stroke advantage over Illinois’ Thomas Detry. Detry, who is ranked 26th nationally, started the morning tied for first at 4-under but carded a 1-under 71 in round two and sits 5-under-par 139 for the championship.

Kristjansson looks to carry momentum into Sunday’s third round as he tees off at 2:20 p.m., from No. 10. The top 15 teams and nine individuals not on an advancing team move into Monday’s final round, where the 72-hole individual champion will be crowned.

Western Carolina’s Poston tied for 48th at NCAA Championships

BRADENTON, Fla. – Western Carolina senior J.T. Poston fired a 5-over-par 77 on Saturday at the par-72, 7,483-yard Concessions Golf Club to slip into a two-way tie for 48th overall at the 2015 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship. Poston carded two birdies against seven bogeys and nine pars and is in the clubhouse with a two-day score of 148.

Paired with individual competitors Kyle Mueller (107th-t, 154) of Michigan and Southern Conference foe Gudmundur Kristjansson (60th-t, 150) of ETSU, Poston opens the third round on the front nine with a 2:10 p.m. tee time as the final threesome off of No. 1. He will need to be inside the top nine individual competitors to advance to Monday’s medal round. Poston enters the third round 11 strokes off the leader’s pace.

Poston shot par on the first two holes of the back nine to start his day before a bogey on the par-4 No. 12 moved him to 1-over-par. He would finish his first nine holes on Saturday with two additional bogeys on the 15th and 16th before birdieing the par-5 17th to eventually make the turn at 2-over-par.

Four bogeys, two pars and one birdie on the first seven holes of the front nine left Poston at 5-over-par before he closed the round by charting back-to-back pars to finish the day off at 5-over-77.

Third-round action gets underway with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. with the final pairing going off of the back nine at approximately 2:20 p.m. All told, 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on one of the advancing teams will play in Monday's fourth round.