Lipsky Leads, Northwestern in Fourth at Big Ten Championships

5/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

May 1, 2010

2010 Big Ten Championships Round Three Results (PDF Format)

INDEPENDANCE, Minn. -- Junior David Lipsky (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) is tied for the individual lead and Northwestern is in fourth place as a team following the third round of the 2010 Big Ten Championships Saturday at Windsong Farm Golf Club.

After holding the individual lead for much of the opening day of play, Lipsky fell three shots back at the conclusion of 36 holes Friday. He wasted little time zooming back to the top of the leaderboard Saturday, making back-to-back birdies on Nos. 3 and 4 (where he chipped in) to catch Illinois' Zach Barlow at 5-under. Lipsky made bogey on No. 9, then got that stroke back with a birdie on the 537-yard, par-5 12th hole.

With the course playing extremely tough, Lipsky weathered the storm better than most of his competitors with only two bogeys down the stretch to leave himself at even-par 71 for the day, the second-best individual score of the third round. One of those bogeys came on the 17th hole after his drive found the fescue, and he did very well to get up-and-down to remain in the lead.

Lipsky is tied with Michigan's Matt Thompson at 3-under 210 (67-72-71) for the tournament. The pair are two shots clear of the rest of the field entering Sunday's final round.

As a team, Northwestern fired the third-best score of the third round on a very difficult day for scoring. The Wildcats' 17-over 301 was one shot shy of No. 18 Illinois' 16-over 300, while No. 48 Michigan fired the only sub-300 team total during Saturday's action with a 10-over 294. By contrast, in the first two rounds Friday only two of the 22 team 18-hole totals were over 300.

NU has a 54-hole total of 27-over 879 (292-286-301), one behind third-place and 41st-ranked Iowa. The 'Cats are five shots behind the second-place Wolverines and 17-strokes in back of the Illini, who hold a 12-shot lead on the field.

"Conditions today were very tough with strong sustained winds and challenging hole locations," Northwestern head coach Pat Goss said. "David played a strong round, getting up-and-down on several holes to give us a chance at back-to-back Big Ten individual champions."

Sophomore Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) is in the top-20 after firing a 4-over 75 Saturday to currently stand 15th at 7-over 220 (72-73-75). Chun was even par on the day before hitting a rough patch on Nos. 15, 16 and 17, which he played in a combined five-over. Chun recovered to get one stroke back, however, with his third birdie of the tournament on the par-5 18th.

Junior Josh Dupont (Poway, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) is in 34th place at 14-over 227 (79-70-78) entering the final round. His third round saw him get to 8-over par through 17 holes before he too got a stroke back with a birdie on 18.

Senior Jonathan Bowers (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Watterson) shot his best score of the three rounds so far on a day when conditions were infinitely more difficult, making a pair of birdies against eight bogeys to card a 6-over 77 and leave him 45th overall at 20-over 233 (78-78-77).

"Eric played well, he just got into that rough stretch on the back nine where he had trouble around the greens," Goss said. "And I thought Jonathan's game looked totally different today. He bounced back well."

Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) rounded out Northwestern's day with an 11-over 82 to place himself 36th in the field at 15-over 228 (75-71-82).

The final round of the 2010 Big Ten Championship begins at 8 a.m. CT Sunday, May 2.

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