UMKC’s Antoine Rozner reaches NCAA championships in men’s golf

UMKC’s Antoine Rozner became the second Kangaroos men’s golfer to advance to the NCAA championships Wednesday following a runner-up finish at a regional tournament.

Rozner finished with a 54-hole score of 1-over 217 in the 14-team Stillwater Regional at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Oklahoma, one shot behind Oklahoma State’s Kristoffer Ventura.

Entering the third and final round, Rozner was tied for the individual lead at 3-under 141 with Oklahoma State’s Stratton Nolen. Ventura was 2 shots back but fired a 73 on Wednesday while Rozner bogied three of the final four holes and shot a 76.

Still, as the top individual not on a top-five team, Rozner moves on to Eugene Country Club in Oregon for the NCAA championships on May 27-June 1.

“It’s amazing,” Rozner, from Paris, said in a release. “Everybody who plays in college golf dreams about going to the NCAA finals. It’s a huge accomplishment and I can’t wait to be there.

“It’s one of the biggest amateur tournaments in the world so I’m really excited. But I won’t go there just to play, I definitely want to do something great and I’m confident if I play the way I played this week I’ll be in good shape.”

Oklahoma State ran away with the team title at 7-over 871, 19 shots ahead of second-place Oklahoma. The other teams advancing to nationals were Clemson, Louisville and Purdue. UMKC finished 12th at 930.

Robert Russell, in 1997, was the only other UMKC men’s golfer to advance to the NCAA championships.

▪ Kansas finshed 10th at the Tuscaloosa Regional at Ol’ Colony Golf Course in Alabama. The Jayhawks shot a team total of 50-over 914. Georgia won the regional at 16-under 848, followed by South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky and Auburn.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "UMKC’s Antoine Rozner reaches NCAA championships in men’s golf."