The Mountaineers have fallen to 29th of 30 teams in Carlsbad despite a three-stroke decrease from the first round to the second.
WVU is making its first NCAA Championship appearance since 1947 this week in Carlsbad, Calif., but after two rounds, the Mountaineers are on the chopping block for their season to end.
Only the top 15 teams after Sunday will advance to Monday’s stroke play round. West Virginia currently ranks 29th with a total of 35-over-par. Stanford, who is 15th after two rounds, is 22 strokes over par.
West Virginia’s improvement on day two was still impressive, all things considered. The effort was led by junior Max Green, who lowered his stroke total by one for a 75 (+3) second round. Green was named to the PING All-Midwest Region Team on Saturday before his round.
That being said, though he does have WVU’s best score across the first two rounds this week, Green was not WVU’s top performer on Saturday. That honor went to junior Todd Duncan, who golfed a 74 (+2) to improve to +8 overall. Duncan shined with a pair of par-five birdies as well as a par-four birdie on hole 13.
WVU’s lone senior at the NCAA Championship, Jackson Davenport, ranks third among the Mountaineers for the week thus far after posting identical 77-stroke rounds. Davenport posted his sole second round birdie on hole 18 to finish +5.
Junior Pierce Grieve’s stroke count increased from 76 to 78 for the second round, putting him at +10 overall, tied with Davenport and six others for 109th place. Sophomore Kaleb Wilson also increased his stroke count by two, giving him an 84 and placing him second-to-last overall at +22.
West Virginia will golf what is likely its final round of a historic season on Sunday at 1:50 p.m. Kaleb Wilson will tee off first for WVU, followed by Grieve, Davenport, Duncan, and Green in that order.
NCAA Championship Standings:
1. Virginia (+1)
2. Illinois (+4)
3. Vanderbilt (+7)
4. Auburn (+10)
5. North Carolina (+11)
T6. Arizona (+12)
T6. Ohio State (+12)
T6. Florida State (+12)
T9. Georgia Tech (+17)
T9. East Tennessee State (+17)
11. Baylor (+20)
T12. Tennessee (+21)
T12. Texas (+21)
T12. Florida (+21)
15. Stanford (+22)
16. California (+24)
17. Notre Dame (+25)
18. Wake Forest (+26)
19. Oklahoma (+27)
T20. North Florida (+28)
T20. Utah (+28)
T22. SMU (+29)
T22. Texas A&M (+29)
T22. New Mexico (+29)
25. LSU (+31)
26. Oklahoma State (+32)
27. Clemson (+33)
28. Texas Tech (+34)
29. West Virginia (+35)
30. Purdue (+44)
Photo from WVU Men’s Golf
