NOBLESVILLE, Ind. -- ACU junior
Cyril Bouniol will enter Friday's final round of the NCAA Division II national championship golf tournament with a three-stroke lead as he seeks to become the Wildcats' first individual national champion since 1993.
Bouniol shot a 1-under-par 71 in Thursday's third round at the Sagamore Golf Club to finish the third round at 1-under-par 215, three strokes ahead of Kyle Souza fo Chico State, who sits at 2-over-par 218. Bobby Bode of Nova Southeastern and Justin Yoder of Central Missouri are tied for third at 3-over-par 219.
Bouniol -- who won the Lone Star Conference co-championship and finished second at the NCAA Division II South / South Central Region championship tournament -- fired the second-lowest round of the day on Thursday, one day after he carded the low round of the tournament, a 4-under-par 68.
For the second straight day, Bouniol started his round on the back nine and he birdied the par-4 10th hole. He then birdied the 14th hole to improve to 2-under-par for the tournament before a bogey on the par-4 16th hole dropped him to 1-under for the tournament.
He then birdied two holes and bogeyed two other holes on the front nine (his back nine for the day) to finish at 71. Bouniol is trying to become the first Wildcat individual national champion since 1993 when current PGA Tour veteran Jeev Singh won the individual national championship while leading the Wildcats to the team national title.
With thunderstorms in the forecast for Friday, the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Committee will utilize the administrative cut option provided to them under the tournament's guidelines and procedures. The administrative cut will trim the field to 15 five-member teams (from 20 five-member teams that have competed in the first three rounds) and the remaining top six individuals (in this case, seven individuals due to a tie for sixth) from the 5 five-member teams that were cut and the eight individual competitors who have played the first three rounds. Play will begin at 8 a.m. with three-man groups teeing off holes 1 and 10 until all players are on the course.
This is a change from the first three rounds when groups teed off with morning and afternoon tee times. The administrative cut provides a better chance for 15 teams and a total of 82 players (from an original field of 108) to complete a full 18 holes prior to the forecasted afternoon thunderstorms.
If all 82 players are not able to complete their respective rounds on Friday, the results would revert back to the end of Thursday's third round to crown a national team champion and national individual champion.
