Men's Golf | 5/12/2021 8:45:00 PM

WHEELING, W.Va.  With Andre Chi setting a program record for the lowest round at an NCAA championship, the Monarchs ascended to second place when Wednesday's Round 2 of the NCAA 2021 Division III Men's Golf Championship finished. 

After entering Wednesday tied for fourth with four other teams, Chi (72-65—137, 4-under par) and Methodist (300-281—581, 17-over par) created a separation of seven strokes over third-place Guilford College (302-286—588, +24), and shrinking first place Illinois Wesleyan University's (290-286—576, +12) lead from 10 strokes to just five.

Chi's 5-under day also tied Methodist Hall of Famer Chad Collins for a program record, which was set at Taconic in 1999. Chi will enter Thursday's round with a four-stroke lead on the individual leaderboard.

Following the conclusion of Tuesday and Wednesday's rounds, the championship has cutdown to the top 18 teams and the top six individuals not on those teams.

THE ESSENTIALS
Event: NCAA 2021 Division III Men's Golf Championship
Host: Bethany College
Participants: 37 teams and 6 individuals; 191 golfers
Location: Oglebay Resort (Speidel Jones Golf Course, par-71, 6857 yards; Palmer Golf Course at Oglebay, par-70, 6621 yards); Wheeling, W. Va.
Top 3 teams: 1 – Illinois Wesleyan (290-286—576, +12), 2 – Methodist (300-281—581, +17), 3 – Guilford (302-286—588, +24)
Top 3 individuals: 1 – Andre Chi, Methodist (72-65—137, -4), T-2 – Jimmy Morton, Illinois Wesleyan (70-71—141, E), T-2 – Will Hocker, Webster (Mo.) University (69-72—141, E), T-2 – Alex Kubrick (74-67—141, E)

THE DETAILS

• For Day 2, Methodist switched to the Palmer Golf Course, starting from the first tee. The Monarchs' round of 281 is a tournament-best so far, rivaled only by the 286 posted by Illinois Wesleyan and Guilford today.
• For Chi, this is where legends are made. His work on holes 5 through 8 was magnificent, carding three consecutive birdies before turning in an eagle on the par-5 8th. He avoided any blemishes on his back nine, recording eight par putts and a birdie on the par-3 15th. In fact, his only "blemish" all day was a single bogey, which came on his third hole of the day.
• Joining Chi in the top 10 is Cooper Hrabak (75-69—144, +3) who jumped 27 places from 36th to 9th. Hrabak made up for not carding a birdie on Day 1 with five birdies on Wednesday. His front nine featured birdies on holes 2 and 8 but he gave those strokes back from bogeys on holes 3 and 7. He moved to 1-under par after turning in three birdies and just two bogeys in his back nine. He had a particularly strong finish with two birdies and three pars in his final five holes.
• Henry Angier (74-76—150, +9) sits tied for 35th after a strong start. He had a birdie and four par putts in his first five holes before giving back seven strokes in the form of five bogeys and a double bogey over the rest of the day.
• Cameron Cappuzzo (T-98th, 79-76—155, +14) had a rough front nine (41, +6) but was much better in the back nine (35, E). He traded his double bogeys in the front nine for birdies on the par-4 10th and par-3 13th.
• Zane Brownrigg (85-71—156, +15) was another Monarch that had a better time on his back nine than his front. He had a birdie on the par-5 2nd but carded three bogeys on his front nine. He closed the day with a 1-under par, 34 in his back nine, which featured a birdie on hole 14 and then eight pars. Ultimately, Brownrigg improved significantly from Tuesday, he was 14 strokes better. That improvement moved Brownrigg from 160th to 107th on the leaderboard.

OF NOTE

• Chi is second in the tournament field on par-3 holes (3, E) and third on par-4 holes (3.95, -1) and par-5 holes (4.57, -3). 
• Chi's 26 pars are tied for second in the field and he is one of five golfers to have carded an eagle in this tournament.
• As a team, Methodist has recorded 110 par putts, second only to Illinois Wesleyan's 116.
• The top five teams on the championship leaderboards all played on the Palmer Course Wednesday. Guilford moved up six spots to third and Denison University (305-285—590, +26) jumped eight spots to fourth place.
• Unranked in Golfstat's top 25, Westminster (Pa.) College (314-283—597, +33) made the biggest jump of any team in the field, making the cut after moving up 15 spots to 10th.
• Golfstat's fourth-ranked Piedmont College (296-307—603, +39) dropped from fourth place after Day 1 to 15th after Wednesday.
• Of the teams that did not make the 18-team cut, Sewanee is the only program ranked inside Golfstat.com's top-10 to not advance. The seventh-ranked Tigers missed the cut -- 605 (+41) -- after finishing at 24th with a 56-over par, 620.

UP NEXT
Methodist, Illinois Wesleyan and Guilford will enjoy the spoils of the top three places on the leaderboard, starting Day 3 together with each team's first golfer teeing off hole No. 1 at a comfortable 10:20 a.m.