Rebels’ struggles continue

Victoria Sun

Friday, May 31, 2002 | 9:34 a.m.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The second after UNLV senior golfer Clark Corbett barely missed a 30-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole at Ohio State University's Scarlet Course Thursday afternoon, he agonized over the missed opportunity.

Corbett winced, shook his head, then stared at the sky for an answer.

But there weren't any answers to be found during the team's second round at the NCAA Men's Golf Championships.

The Rebels flubbed putts and planted balls in the rough -- and worse -- to shoot 5-over-par 289 for a two-day total 581. They are 17 shots off the pace in 23rd place among the 30 teams.

No. 1 Georgia Tech and No. 2 Clemson led the 30-team field at 5-under 563 with Toledo in third at 564 starting today's third round.

"I'm disappointed because we had it going a little bit," UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said. "It's just one of those things.

"When they hit it in trouble, they just tried to press it too much and they became double and triple bogeys. It's a shame because they really played a lot of good golf except for that."

Corbett shaved two strokes off his opening round, shooting even-par 71.

He bogeyed the 408-yard par 4 No. 3, then rebounded with birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 to go 1-under at the turn. He sank a seven-foot birdie putt on No. 9, a 414-yard par 4.

On the par-4 11th, Corbett hit his second shot onto the green to about 40 feet from the pin. His long putt stopped two feet short and he settled for par.

He birdied the par-5 No. 12, then bogeyed the par-3 13th and the par-4 14th.

"Coming in, we had high hopes," Corbett said. "We haven't played as well as we would have liked.

"The weather is humid, something we're not used to. We needed to get mentally tough, pick our shots and execute them."

Freshman Ryan Moore led the team for the second consecutive day. He handled the course well, carding a 2-under-par 69. And when he didn't handle the course, he was able to scramble his way out of trouble.

He opened the second round by sinking a 40-footer for par on No. 1. On No. 2, he had to chip out of the rough but recovered for par.

He had similar saves on Nos. 14 and 15.

"A few of my shots were really weird today," Moore said. "I wasn't really sure where they came from.

"But for the most part, I think I controlled it pretty well and hit it where I wanted to."

Moore missed eagle putts on Nos. 4 and 12, settling for birdies. He bogeyed Nos. 3 and 11 with birdies on 9 and 17.

Moore hopes the first two rounds have made the team a bit wiser.

"I think all of us maybe played a little too aggressive off the tee and if you get in this rough, you really just don't have a chance," Moore said. "I think maybe we didn't play as smart as we could have.

"I think that's what we'll take away from this. Coming into a tournament like this, par is really good. Just make as many pars as you can and you'll shoot a good score."

Brien Davis shot a 2-over-par 73 for UNLV while J.C. Deacon turned in a 76."