Second-Round Surge Has Rams In Lead at Ram Masters

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Oct 14

Men's Golf

at Oregon State Invitational Day 1

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Men's Golf

at Oregon State Invitational Day 2

Oct 27

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at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate Day 1

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at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate Day 2

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at Southwestern Intercollegiate Day 1

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – He had no hard facts, but he could sense it.

Colorado State wasn't playing well in the first round. Still, Davis Bryant didn't know what that actually meant. He also could tell things were changing in the second round, particularly at the eighth tee box. In his mind, the course at the Fort Collins Country Club had changed, and so had the Rams.

After starting the second round of Monday's 36-hole affair down eight strokes to CSU Fullerton, the Rams surged back in a big way, finishing the day with a four-stroke lead at their own affair, the Ram Masters, an event the team has won seven consecutive years.

They shot a 9-under 271 in the second round, the fourth-best round in tournament history. It led to a 36-hole total of 554, also the fourth best in the event's run. It gave them a two-stroke margin over CSU Fullerton with Tuesday's single round teeing off with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.

Being oblivious is the way first-year head coach Michael Wilson likes his players. At least when it comes to the scoreboard.

"That's cool. Like last week after the round, I asked him what the last punt meant, and he said, 'I had no idea, I was just trying to birdie every single hole,'" Wilson said. "I was like, that put you a shot short, and he asked to who, and I said to Connor Jones, and he said, ah. But it was pretty cool to hear that because it just shows he's so in the process going one shot at a time. It's so cliché, and the best players in the world say it."

Bryant, for one, loves cliches. They carry truth, and both he and Wilson mimicked each other at different times, noting the reason there are cliches is because one, they're true, which is why everybody uses them.

Just the way the team used the opportunity to seize the moment, not knowing if they needed to or not. And it wasn't just those who had a chance to score, but a couple of Rams who were playing as independents.

Five Rams finished in the top 12 on the individual board, and two of the rounds didn't count to the team score. In fact, the best day of them all, produced by Jay Pabin, had no impact. He sits second on the individual board with a 5-under 135, sparked by his first round 66, matching a career low.

He felt his instincts were better and the pressure was off. He also felt better about his routine, thanks to some work with Wilson and assistant coach Chris Babcock.

"Sometimes it's hard to find yourself, but it's a huge life vest, that's what we call it," Pabin said. "It was consistency. I was taking a different amount of practice swings, I was taking different looks, just little small things that go along way when you're doing it every single time for five hours, or nine hours like today with 36 holes. You have to be consistent, and I felt I was really good today about it."

Jaren Calkins of Wyoming leads the pack after a 7-under day, followed by Pabin and Bryant, in a tie for third at 4-under. Freshman Matthew Wilkinson – also an independent -- is in eighth at 2-under, Jones is tied for ninth at 1-under and Rasmus Hjelm is tied for 13^th at even.

The first day featured two aces from the field, the first by Eliot Bunyaviroch of UC San Diego on the second hole of the opening round with an 8-iron; the second coming in the afternoon round from Creighton's Shawn Campbell, using a pitching wedge on the ninth hole.

For Bryant, his approach never changed, nor did his focus. He never looked at the board, just his next shot. But making up 10 strokes in one round, he had to acknowledge the accomplishment.

"That's impressive. The golf course changed," he said. "We were on the eighth tee box, and we could tell it just instantly got firmer. The big thing out here is to adapt. This is my fifth time seeing the course in this tournament, so you have to be ready to make the adjustments when you need to. The last 10-11 holes, it got firmer. It got a little windier, so it just made it harder to get the right number. If you were in between clubs, it was really hard to get the right number."

Then he pulled out the cliches, the ones Wilson himself would use and definitely appreciates.

Take your shot, take the next then add up the card at the end. Then put four cards together and see what happens.

"I just try to play the golf course and control what I can control. I could tell we definitely turned it on the last 18 holes," he said. "That's' what you have to do. These days are long, they're tiring and obviously the boys played really well, so we're in a good spot for tomorrow."

And he has a sense they'll all be ready.

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