The Clemson Tigers have not yet played the round their coach had expected in the first three days of the NCAA championship, but they get another chance on Monday after having comfortably made the cut to play the final round of stroke play.

“They are trying, I know that.  It is not lack of effort, “said Clemson coach Larry Penley. “Hopefully they will relax and play well tomorrow,” he added.

The Tigers had to be in the top-15 and Clemson finished the third round in 10th place.

Clemson is 16 strokes ahead of Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets were the 15th and final team to advance to the final round after shooting a 3-day total of 32-over par.

The Tigers are also 3-shots behind four teams for the eighth spot and the opportunity to play for the title in the match play final.

“We will have to play better on Monday. Thank goodness for Turk (Pettit), who is just playing outstanding golf. “ said Clemson’s retiring Hall of Fame coach.  

Once again Pettit continued to lead the Tigers and is within 2 shots of the individual lead.

Pettit only trails Bo Jin from Oklahoma State by 2-shots.

The Clemson senior shot his third straight under par round. Pettit posted a 2-under par 68 going into the final round.

“We still have not given Turk Pettit help.  He is in second place and no one else is in the top 50 (individually),” said Penley. 

Clemson’s Jacob Bridgeman and Colby Patton are tied for 50th place. Patton shot his best round of the tournament shooting an even par 70 while Bridgeman carded his worst round shooting a 5-over par 75.

“I was very proud of Colby and his even par round today. I know we are capable of having a good round tomorrow and getting into match play,” Penley said.

Pepperdine is in 9th place with North Carolina, Wake Forrest and Vanderbilt tied for sixth place in front of Clemson.

Oklahoma St will be the number 1-seed when match play begins. The Cowboys have a 13 shot lead over Oklahoma for first place in the stroke play portion of the championship.

South Carolina’s Ryan Hall, playing as an individual did not make the cut. Hall lost 11 places with his final round score. He finished at 9-over par in a tie for 67th place.

Georgia missed the cut by a shot finishing in a tie for 17th place.

Bulldog golfer Trent Phillips from Boiling Springs shot his best round of the tournament. Phillips shot a 3-under par 67 to finish in a tie for 34th, but it wasn’t enough to pull his team over the cut line.

NCAA championship scores from GolfStat http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=22822