Afternoon Heater Moves Wildcats Up Leaderboards at Arizona N.I.T.

TUCSON, Ariz. – A blistering start to its second round of the day propelled No. 16 Arizona Men’s Golf to a team score of 30-under par before play at the Arizona N.I.T. was called due to darkness with three holes remaining in the afternoon round. The Wildcats sit in third place at 30-under with the trio of Tianyi Xiong, Tiger Christensen and Sam Sommerhauser all in the top 10 of the individual leaderboard.

“We didn’t quite get off to the start we were expecting, but our team really hit their stride in the afternoon and played some great golf,” said head coach Jim Anderson. “To sit at 20-under in a round with three holes remaining is a tremendous accomplishment for our guys. We executed our game plan and really got it rolling all afternoon. If we finish round two with more low scores, our momentum should carry us into Tuesday’s final round. We have put ourselves in a great position heading into the final round, and I am excited to see this team continue to compete at a very high level.”

Arizona’s afternoon surge was led by Xiong who was 9-under in the second round through 15 holes. The freshman’s blistering low second round put him in a tie for fourth place. Christensen, who sits in a tie for seventh at 8-under through 15 holes, carded Arizona’s lowest score in the first round with a five-under round of 67. Sommerhauser is one stroke behind Christensen through 15 holes in round two and sits in a tie for tenth place.

The Wildcat individuals are chasing a pair of leaders, which is led by Arizona State’s Wenyi Ding at 13-under par. Bastien Amat from New Mexico sits one stroke behind Ding. As a team, Arizona trails New Mexico by five strokes and Arizona State by a single stroke heading into the resumption of the second round on Tuesday morning.

Opening Round

Behind an opening round of 67 from Tiger Christensen, the Wildcats shot 10-under as a team in the morning round. Christensen was quick to capitalize on scoring opportunities, sinking three straight birdes on the second, third and fourth holes. Sam Sommerhauser finished Monday’s morning action one stroke behind Christensen with a 4-under round of 68 thanks to an eagle on the par-5, eighth hole.