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Patrick Fishburn makes final round of NCAA Championships

By Shaun Gordon

RYE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 07: Claudio Consul of Worcester College Oxford plays his tee shot on the seventh hole against Ben Keogh of New College Oxford during the Final of the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society President's Putter at Rye Golf Club on January 7, 2018 in Rye, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
RYE, ENGLAND - JANUARY 07: Claudio Consul of Worcester College Oxford plays his tee shot on the seventh hole against Ben Keogh of New College Oxford during the Final of the Oxford and Cambridge Golfing Society President's Putter at Rye Golf Club on January 7, 2018 in Rye, England. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images) /
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While the BYU Men’s Golf team didn’t advance to Monday’s fourth round of the NCAA Championships, Patrick Fishburn advanced individually.

Patrick Fishburn earned a fourth round at the NCAA Championships, but it was by the skin of his teeth.

Through three rounds at the tournament, the Cougar senior shot one-over par, tied for 30th. He’ll play a fourth round on Monday, hoping to improve on that score.

It was a tough week for the entire Cougar team. Because of BYU’s policy against Sunday play, the Cougars shot their Sunday round on Thursday. They battled horrible weather during that round and finished 24-over. Fishburn finished six-over on Thursday, by far his worst round of the first three.

In his first round on Friday, Fishburn shot five-under, working his way into the Top 10. BYU shot one-over as a team, staying in contention as well.

The second round wasn’t quite as solid. Fishburn finished Saturday’s round at even par, and the Cougars shot eight over.

While Fishburn will get a fourth go round on Monday, the rest of the Cougars are finished. BYU failed to make the Top 15 and advance. The Cougars finished in a tie for 24th, 33-over par.

This was BYU’s first team appearance in the NCAA Championships since 2006, when they finished 15th. Overall, it’s the Cougars 28th appearance in the national tournament.

While it had been more than a decade since the Cougars made the championships as a team, two individual golfers qualified since. In 2009, Brady Johnson qualified individually, finishing in a tie for 96th at 13-over par.

The following season, Robbie Fillmore qualified and finished much better, shooting two-under par for the tournament and finishing in a tie for 18th.

Fisburn has some work to do if he wants to finish better than Fillmore did. As of now, he’s three strokes behind the eight golfers that are tied for 14th. He’ll have even more work to do to win the individual title. He trails the leader, Bryson Nimmer of Clemson, by ten strokes.

He’ll have to make the final round of his collegiate career a memorable one to finish at the top of the leaderboard.

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