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Wednesday, May 7
The Indiana Daily Student

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Overton currently tied for 10th place at NCAA Championships

Big Ten Golfer of the Year finishes 2nd round strong

When junior Jeff Overton teed off at the NCAA Championships Tuesday, he was determined not to shoot himself out of the tournament. Instead he shot an opening round 67 landing him in fourth place on the leaderboard after the first round of play. \nAlthough IU's team didn't qualify for the championships, the Big Ten Golfer of the Year qualified for the tournament by finishing as the top individual from a non-qualifying team at last week's NCAA Regionals in West Lafayette.\nOverton began his round at 8:48 a.m. on the 10th hole at the Cascades Golf Course in Hot Springs, Va. Paired with Aaron Price from Georgia Southern and Chris Baryla from Texas El Paso, Overton got off to a rocky start when he bogeyed his third hole.\n"The greens were pretty tough to putt on and I bogeyed the third hole because I three-putted it," Overton said.\nHe maintained focus and made par on the following four holes. On the par five 17th hole, Overton hit two bolstering shots allowing him to reach the green in two strokes. Then he hit a 15-foot putt right over the lip of the cup to score an eagle and send him to his second nine at one-under par.\n"The greens were pretty tough to putt on, but I made that putt on the 17th, and I felt like that really got me rolling," Overton said.\nIU golf coach Mike Mayer said he was impressed with Overton's play Tuesday. \n"Jeff played a very solid round today and really put himself in good position," Mayer said. "Jeff is a special type of golfer who unlike most players his age doesn't get nervous when he makes a couple of birdies and is shooting under par."\nOverton went into the second nine and performed flawlessly, making birdies on the 12th and 17th holes and finishing the day at three-under par, which placed him two shots behind the leader.\nThe top collegiate golfers in the country will play one more round before a cut is made. After the cut only the top 15 scoring teams and the six best individual competitors who are playing without their teams will move on to the final round. \n"You can't win this tournament on the first day, but you can definitely lose it, and Jeff put himself in a real good position. Someone's going to win this championship on the putting greens and right now the greens are playing really fast." Mayer said. \nOverton recognized this and responded by only three-putting one green the entire round.\n"It's important that I continue to make putts from the five- to seven-foot range," Overton said.\nOverton teed off in the early afternoon Wednesday with hopes of duplicating his efforts from the previous day. He struggled by shooting a double bogey on the third hole and scoring bogies on the fourth and eighth holes. He settled down on the back nine and birdied holes 16 and 18. At the round's end, Overton finished in a tie for 10th at one-under par and is merely three strokes off the lead.\n"This golf course is nice because it doesn't require me to hit the same shots over and over," Overton said. "I just want to go out there stay calm and try to take what the golf course is willing to give me."\nOverton will play the third round Thursday. If he shoots a qualifying score, Overton will compete in the Championship's final round Friday.\nFor live updates, visit www.golfstat.com.\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Pieper at mnpieper@indiana.edu .

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