June 2, 2000

Box Score

OPELIKA, Ala. - UNLV senior Jeremy Anderson charged through the third round of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships, collecting two birdies and an eagle en route to a three-under par 69.

But despite the third straight solid round fired by Anderson (69-68-69--206), he could not close the four-stroke gap between himself and co-leaders Davis Gossett of Texas and Charles Howell of Oklahoma State. Howell blistered the Grand National Course, shooting a nine-under 63 and tying the course record that Gossett had set just two days earlier.

"I figured that even a solid round would keep me within four or five of the leader, but I certainly didn't expect a 63 (by Howell)," said Anderson, who now stands in a tie for fourth place in the individual race. "Ten shots is a lot to make up, but not impossible. I'm just going to go out and play my game without changing a whole lot. It's all about making some putts and leaving my best round on the course."

Although Anderson delivered a solid round, putting could have helped him gain some ground on Howell. Several times during Friday's round, Anderson faced birdie putts of 10-20 feet and came close on all of them. But not close enough as he tapped in for 14 pars on the day.

Howell (67-66-63--196) retained the individual lead with his impressive round and established a new NCAA Championships record for low 54-hole score (196). He holds a three-stroke edge over Gossett (63-70-66--199) and a 10-stroke margin over Anderson.

Howell is also well on his way to leading the Cowboys to a team title as well. OSU (281-276-275--832) is 32 strokes under par and holds a three-stroke advantage over Texas (272-286-277--835).

As a team, UNLV (286-287-277--850) scored its third-lowest round in the school's history at the NCAA Championships with an 11-under par 277, thanks to sub-par rounds by all five players in the lineup.

But despite the great effort on the Rebels' part, 13 of the 15 remaining teams carded round under par on Friday, and UNLV was unable to make up much ground on the field. The Rebels sit in a three-way tie for sixth place.

"We played a good, tough round today and bounced back from some shaky scores in the first couple rounds," head coach Dwaine Knight said. "We just didn't quite turn the corner and there were too many other low scores out there today."

Senior Michael Kirk (70-72-68--210) actually posted the best round for UNLV on the day, shooting a four-under par 68. He is tied for 13th overall.

The rest of the lineup was hot, also, as both Scott Lander (79-73-70--222) and Calvin Kupeyan (71-74-70--215) finished at two-under par. That left the Rebels discarding an impressive one-under 71 from Robert Sul (76-75-71--222).

While UNLV would need a lot of help to overcome the 18-shot deficit, the Rebels will almost assuredly post their third consecutive top-10 finish at the national finals. Likewise, Anderson is on pace for a top-10 finish, and Kirk lies within striking distance.

That is something that both seniors would like as they tee it up for the final times in their collegiate careers at 8:15 a.m. CDT Saturday morning.

"I try not to think about (playing in my last round as an amateur), only to think about the shot and the hole at hand," Anderson said. "But I know that walking down that 18th fairway, I'll be doing some reflecting. I've just got to get it out of my system before I make that birdie putt."

Anderson admitted that he would like to go out with bang and could get aggressive at times during the final round.

"I want to play a great round," he said, which would mean a 66 or better. "I've always envisioned going out on a big high. I want it to be a memorable day."