Rainey Advances To Final Round at NCAA Championship
5/30/2016 3:48:00 AM | Men's Golf
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EUGENE, Ore. – College of Charleston junior William Rainey (Charlotte, N.C.) advanced to the final round of stroke-play competition at the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships held at the Eugene Country Club on Sunday.
He shot a three-birdie 71 during Sunday's third round to make the cut at 1-over par after 54 holes. Rainey was the fifth-highest individual to make the cut out of the nine individuals that qualified for the final round from non-advancing teams. He is currently tied for 13th and is seven strokes back of current individual leader Aaron Wise of Oregon (-6).
Rainey was one of only two players in the Top 16 hailing from a non-Power 5 conference school (Pac-12, SEC, Big 12 or Big Ten). He is looking to become the highest individual finisher at nationals for the Cougars since former CofC men's golfer Jedd McLuen tied for 34th (+4) in 2001 advancing as part of team competition.
An All-Colonial Athletic Association First Team selection, Rainey currently ranks second all-time in the College of Charleston record books in single-season scoring average (71.55) ahead of McLuen in 1999-2000 (72.11) and 2000-01 (72.36). He also ranks No. 3 nationally in pars per round (12.29 avg.).
“William got off to a great start today,” CofC Head Coach Mark McEntire said. “He was -3 thru his first five holes and was really playing great. This is a tough golf course and just hard to keep it going. He has had a great year and it would be great for him to finish Top 10-or-better tomorrow at the NCAA Championship.”
Rainey is scheduled to tee-off the No. 1 tomorrow at 12:40 p.m. (PT) / 3:40 p.m. (ET) and will be paired up with Nahum Mendoza III of San Diego State and Antoine Rozner of UMKC. He is only the second men's golfer in CAA history to make the final cut at nationals.
The Top 15 teams (Vanderbilt, Texas, Southern California, LSU, Oregon, Arkansas, Arizona State, Cal, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Kentucky, South Carolina, Florida, Louisville and Oklahoma) along with the Top 9 individuals, not on an advancing team, will play the final 18 holes of stroke‐play competition tomorrow and the 72‐hole individual champion crowned.
Live tournament scoring will be available at: www.Golfstat.com and live television coverage can be viewed on The Golf Channel.
Players Mentioned
