May 1, 2010
MAPLE PLAIN, Minn. - The Purdue men's golf team will head into the final round of the Big Ten Men's Championships in fifth place. After recording a 306 (+22) in the third round, the Boilermakers sit just four strokes behind fourth-place Northwestern and five strokes behind third-place Iowa.
Minnesota is playing host to the field at the par-71, 7,380-yard Windsong Farm. The field played 36 holes on Friday and 18 holes today. The tournament will conclude with the fourth round beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday.
Purdue entered the third round in third place after carding a two-round total of nine-over 577. Illinois used a team total of 300 (+16) to obtain a lead of 12 strokes over second-place Michigan. The Wolverines recorded the lowest score of round three - carding a ten-over 294.
Sophomore William Sjaichudin led Purdue with a four-over 74. Sophomore Tyler Duncan, Junior Erich Johnston and junior Nakarintra Ratanakul each used a six-over 77 in round three. Johnston's four-over three-round total of 217 lands him in a ninth place tie. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native fired back-to-back one-under 70s in rounds one and two.
David Lipsky of Northwestern and Matt Thompson of Michigan are at the top of the individual leaderboard tied at three-under. They sit just two strokes ahead of Iowa's Barrett Kelpin and Illinois' Zach Barlow.
The Boilermakers are looking to solidify their résumé for an NCAA Regionals bid. To qualify for Regionals, a team must either win its conference tournament or finish the season with a record of .500 or better in a cumulative head-to-head comparison of the field at each of its events.
Sunday's action will commence at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday. Live scoring for the Big Ten Championships will be available at golfstat.com. The Big Ten Network will broadcast the tournament on a tape-delayed basis at noon ET on Sunday, May 23.