RIO GRANDE, P.R. — The Oklahoma men are ranked 42nd in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 50. The Sooners might be ready for a bump.
Through two rounds of the Puerto Rico Classic, played on the par 72 River Course at Rio Mar Country Club, OU is dead even — and 19-under par — alongside fifth-ranked Alabama.
The Sooners also have a horse in the medalist’s race in junior Eduardo Castiello, who sits tied with Virginia Tech’s Mike Moyers at 7-under par 138 after rounds of 68 and 69.
With a 36-hole score of 557, both the Sooners and Crimson Tide are eight strokes in front of SMU (565), 13 strokes in front of Georgia (570) and 14 in front of Georgia Tech (571).
The 15-team field includes eight top-50 programs.
“It was another great day for us,” OU coach Ryan Hybl said. “We showed the type of firepower today that I have been waiting to see.”
Every Sooner has already contributed and none is having a bad tournament.
Will Kropp and Abraham Ancer are both tied for ninth on the medalist list, four strokes back of Castiello. Both Beau Titsworth and Michael Schoolcraft are tied for 22nd, with Titsworth’s opening round 68 counting toward the Sooner total and Schoolcraft’s second-round 70 helping keep OU atop the leaderboard.
Hybl’s strategy is simple:
Go low.
“We will go with the same game plan (today) and that is to be aggressive and make as many birdies as we can,” he said. “Alabama and other teams behind us have great players and we need to stay aggressive.”
Castiello’s Monday scorecard included birdies on Nos. 2, 4, 10, 15 and 17.
The Sooners begin their final round at 5:30 this morning.
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