The Emory University men's golf team continued its surge up the leaderboard on day three of the NCAA Championships as the Eagles battled chilly and rainy conditions across 32-plus holes on the Midvale CC course in Penfield, New York.
After over 11 hours on the course on Thursday, Emory will head into the final day in fourth position on the team leaderboard with a current score of 1150 (+30) and is in the mix for the team title along with Methodist, Illinois Wesleyan and Washington & Lee. The Eagles recorded their best round of the week with a 285 in the third round – the lowest score out of the 18 teams remaining - and were plus-four when play was suspended due to darkness in the final round.
Sophomore Kevin Mu remains in the hunt for the individual title as he shot under par during his first 18 rounds of the morning and was one-under through 14 holes in the final round. Mu is one stroke off Lynchburg's Edward Coffren who is at seven-under through 16 complete holes in the fourth round. Mu was close to flawless during the third round with four birdies and 12 pars and will pick his round up in the morning on hole 15.
Senior Josh Qian was the lone Eagle to complete both rounds on Thursday as he shot seven-over across his 36 holes. Qian carded a 77 in the third round before firing his best round of the tournament with a 74 over the final 18. He recorded seven birdies on the day to go along with 18 pars.
Junior Brian Hanson has two holes remaining on his scorecard and was one-over on his third day of competition. Hanson notched his best round of the week with an even 72 and completed 16 holes in the final round where he was one-over heading to the 17th tee. He saw four birdies come across his line while mixing in 23 pars.
Seniors Tony Li and Michael Burry capped off the Emory players in play on Thursday as both Eagles reached 15 complete holes. Li stands 98th on the individual leaderboard with two holes left. He was two-under during the third round where he shot his best round of the week with a 70 featuring four birdies and 12 pars, and notched his second birdie of the final round before play was stopped. For Burry, he has matching two-over rounds to his credit as he posted a 74 during the third round and has three holes remaining on his week as he'll head to the 16th tee Friday morning. Burry had three birdies in both rounds and compiled a total of 17 pars.
The championship field will resume at 7:45am with the hopes of concluding the tournament prior to inclement weather enters the Rochester area.
