UMKC golfer Antoine Rozner ties for individual lead in NCAA regional

UMKC’s Antoine Rozner is one solid round away from making the field for the NCAA men’s golf national championship tournament.

Rozner shot 1-under-par 71 in the second round of regional qualifying Tuesday in Stillwater, Okla., leaving him tied for the individual lead with Oklahoma State’s Stratton Nolen. They are at 3-under 141.

Oklahoma State leads the team competition with a score of even-par 576 for two rounds, 8 shots ahead of second-place Oklahoma.

UMKC is tied for eighth place at 619. The Kangaroos are 8 shots behind fifth-place Louisville.

The top five teams and the top individual not on one of those teams will advance to the NCAA finals May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

Rozner, a senior from Paris, started on the back nine and made birdies on Nos. 12 and 18 and a bogey on 17. He got off to a slow start on his second nine, making a double bogey on No. 1, but got those shots back with birdies on Nos. 3 and 7.

“I played really solid again today,” Rozner said. “I'm hitting the ball very well off the tee and that is definitely the key here. I managed to put the ball on the right spots on the greens so I had some fairly easy putts.

“I got a bad break on hole one when my ball moved on the green when I addressed it so I had to take one penalty shot, but overall I'm really happy with the way I reacted. I stayed focused on what I had to do.”

▪ Kansas is in 10th place at the regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., 19 shots behind leader Georgia and 14 behind fifth-place Auburn.

The Jayhawks’ Connor Peck shot a 73 and is at 147 for two rounds.

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 4:28 PM with the headline "UMKC golfer Antoine Rozner ties for individual lead in NCAA regional."