Braden Bailey rallied with two birdies on his final three holes Saturday to salvage a 3-over par 73 in the second round of the NCAA golf championships at Eugene Country Club in Oregon.
Through 36 holes, the Port Neches-Groves ex stands at 145 (72-73) and is tied for 65th in a field of 156 players. He is tied with Hunter Shattuck for the Bears’ low total.
With Bailey’s 73 the team’s best effort on Saturday, Baylor slid from 26th to 28th in the 30-team field. The Bears added a 16-over par 296 to their opening 293 and trail first place Vanderbilt by 26 shots.
Bailey faltered early with bogeys on the first two holes, got back to par with back to back birdies, then tumbled to 3-over after a bogey at 6 and a double bogey at 7.
After making the turn at 3-over 38, he carded bogeys at 10 and 15 to go to 5-over. He somewhat salvaged the round with birdies at 16 and 18.
Justin Suh of Southern California is the individual leader at 135 (68-67).
Among other Texas schools in the field, UT is T7 at 570 (289-281), TCU is 23rd and Houston is 24th.