May 31, 2007

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Sophomore Zach Sucher continued his stellar play at the 2007 NCAA Men's Golf Championship and is in the hunt for a national title entering the event's final two rounds. After shooting a two-under par 68 during Wednesday's opening round, Sucher carded a three-under par 67 on Thursday, and will enter the championship's third round in a tie for fifth overall with a five-under par 135.

Even though Sucher is among the youngest players on the leader board and not as experienced as some of the other players, he feels confident going into the final 36 holes.

"I am just trying to take it one round at a time," Sucher said. "I don't have the pressure of playing for my team like some of the other guys do. I feel that definitely gives me an advantage heading into the final two days because playing for your team creates a lot of pressure. It is basically me against the golf course, and I am just trying to hit good golf shots and have some fun."

His round was even more impressive when considering he began the day with bogeys in three of his first four holes of the afternoon. However, the second-team all-conference honoree showed great maturity by making up six strokes throughout the final 14 holes, by collecting four birdies and an eagle without any bogeys throughout the rest of his round.

Ironically, Sucher said he was able to get his game going after recording his third bogey on the day.

"I totally whiffed on a chip shot in real deep rough on the fourth hole," Sucher said. "After that, I chipped my ball to within 15-20 feet of the hole. I was able to hit that long putt and make bogey and after that, I just got some confidence and that was the key to my round."

Sucher began the stretch with a birdie on the 348-yard par four fifth hole to drop back to even par on the tournament. The highlight of his round came with an eagle on the par five, 485-yard sixth hole. He followed that with another birdie on the 205-yard par three seventh hole to drop to three-under par for the tournament and one under for the round. He would finish his front nine at one-under par 34.

"During (Wednesday's) round, I was one over for the fifth, sixth and seventh holes," Sucher said. "For me to drop to four-under over those holes is a great improvement, and I am really happy with that."

Sucher continued his hot play on the back nine, with birdies on the 10th and 12th holes, to improve his streak to five of seven holes below par. The Mobile, Ala. native would go on to par his remaining six holes, to finish the round at three-under par for the day. The six strokes made up over his final 15 holes was possibly some of his best golf of the season, according to UAB head coach Alan Kaufman.

"Zach is playing some really good golf right now," Kaufman said. "He doesn't panic when he hits a bad shot and shows a lot of maturity by making smart decisions on the golf course. I feel he is a definite threat to contend for the national title."

Sucher will enter the third round of play three strokes behind overall leader Bronson LaCassie of Minnesota. LaCassie is at eight-under par 132 (67-65) and leads Vanderbilt's Jon Curran (134) by two strokes entering Fridays third round. Sucher is tied with Rob Grube of Stanford, Dustin Johnson of Coastal Carolina and Cameron Tringale of Georgia Tech for third place in the 156-man field.

Friday's third round of play on the par 70, 6,803-yard Golden Horseshoe Golf Club course begins with the teams teeing off at 7 a.m. ET on the first and 10th hole. Sucher will tee off on the 10th hole at 8:55 a.m. ET. Fans can follow Sucher's quest for an NCAA title by logging onto Golfstat.com.