David Lipsky, Northwestern Both Fourth at Big Ten Championships

4/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

April 30, 2010

2010 Big Ten Championships First Round Results (PDF Format)

2010 Big Ten Championships Second Round Results (PDF Format)

INDEPENDANCE, Minn. -- Junior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) held the individual lead throughout most of the day Friday during the first two rounds of the Big Ten Championships at Windsong Farm Golf Club, helping Northwestern to fourth place in the team standings at the halfway point of the tournament.

Northwestern has a 10-over 578 (292-286) total following the first 36 holes of the 72-hole Championships. The Wildcats are one shot behind third-place Purdue and four strokes shy of second-place Iowa. Illinois has built a huge lead in the team race, currently sitting at 6-under par. Northwestern is one stroke in front of fifth-place Indiana and two shots ahead of No. 48 Michigan, which is sixth.

Northwestern finished strong in both rounds, absolutely killing the 571-yard par-5 18th hole to the tune of a combined 6-under par. The Wildcats made a six-stroke improvement from the morning to the afternoon, jumping from fifth place to fourth.

Lipsky launched himself toward the top of the leaderboard with three birdies in a four hole stretch on the front side in the morning. Two more birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 put him at 4-under par, one shot off the early pace set by Illinois' Scott Langley. Lipsky finished bogey-birdie while Langley recorded a triple-bogey six on the par-3 16th hole to give Lipsky a two-shot lead on the field after 18 holes.

Lipsky then played even par for the entire second round, carding his first non-par with a bogey on No. 10. He quickly made up for that with a birdie on the par-5 12th hole to maintain his lead on the field. A bogey on No. 18 coupled with a late surge by several of his competitors left him at fourth overall at 3-under 139 (67-72), three shots out of first.

Lipsky's opening round 67 matched both his career- and season-best total. He also fired 4-under 67s this year in the final round of Northwestern's Windon Memorial on October 5 and in the second round of the Kepler Intercollegiate at Ohio State's Scarlet Course on April 10. He now has five-career scores of 67 after reaching that number once in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Defending Big Ten champ Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) is in 16th at 3-over 145 (72-73) following Friday's action. Chun had an eventful morning, carding six bogies and five birdies to finish at 1-over 72. In the second round, Chun surrounded a rare double bogey on No. 8 with birdies at Nos. 7 and 9 to help account for a 1-over 36 going out. Bogies at Nos. 11 and 13 pushed him up to 3-over, but his second birdie of the day at No. 18 left him with a 2-over 73.

Sophomore Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) is in 20th place at 4-over 146 (75-71) after improving four shots from his morning to afternoon rounds. In the opening 18 holes, Chien made five bogies and 12 pars before making birdie on the 18th to finish at 4-over 75. Chien carded four more bogies in the second round, but he took advantage of his birdie opportunities to make four of those -- including another on No. 18 -- to earn Northwestern's team an even-par 71 score.

Making an even bigger improvement from morning to afternoon was junior Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic), who contributed mightily to Northwestern's second-round surge. Dupont made a trio of double bogies during his opening 18 holes to card an 8-over 79. In the afternoon, Dupont recorded seven-straight pars to start before his fourth double bogey of the day on No. 8. From that point on, Dupont birdied all three of Windsong Farm's par-5s and made par on every other hole to shoot a 1-under 70 and finish day one in 33rd place at 7-over 149 (79-70).

Rounding out Northwestern's lineup was senior Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson), who is 52nd individually at 14-over 156 (78-78).

The third round of the 72-hole Big Ten Championships begins at 9 a.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, May 1.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! Get the latest news, schedule updates, video and interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!