Killian Climbs the Leaderboard

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL -- Coker University senior Killian Ryan (Nottingham, England) fired his second consecutive round of even-par 71 Thursday to climb 17 spots in the NCAA D-II South-Southeast Super Regional Golf Championship.

Playing at Grande Dunes Golf Club, Ryan, who is now 21st of 108 golfers, had another round with three birdies and three bogeys. He started the day in high winds with six straight pars. After a brilliant chip shot on No. 7, he was unable to convert and made his first bogey. On No. 9, his approach came up short and he wasn't able to get up and down, leaving him with a 2-over 38 at the turn.

Ryan rattled in three straight pars to start the back nine, then got on a roll with three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13, 14, and 15. He nearly drove the green on the 305-yard 13th and two-putted for birdie from off the green. On 14, he piped a drive, then stiffed a wedge to five feet for another birdie. He hit the par-5 15th green in two and two-putted from 30 feet to get to 1-under for the tournament. 

His birdie putt just missed on 16, then he had his first 3-putt of the tourney on the par-3 17th when his tee ball left him with a 55-foot putt across the green and down a slope. He got it to six feet, but just misfired for par. Ryan cozied a 40-foot putt from off the green across a slope to five feet and made it for par on the 18th.

For the day, he hit 12 of 14 fairways, 12-of-18 greens and needed 30 putts.

"Killian didn't really hit the ball that well on the front nine, but managed a 2-over 38," Coker head coach John Hackney said. "On the back nine, he was brilliant, hitting all seven fairways and 8-of-9 greens. He is a prime-time player, so I was pleased to see him regroup and catch fire on the back nine."

Saturday will be the final round of the 54-hole tournament. The top six teams and two individuals not on those qualifying teams will earn a berth to the NCAA DII National Championships in Warren, OH, in two weeks.

Ryan will tee off at 8:50 Saturday morning. 

Nationally second-ranked Barry soared into the team lead at 9-under, followed by No. 3 West Florida (-5), No. 5 North Georgia (E), No. 4 Lee (+1), No. 32 Shorter (+2) and No. 12 Clayton State (+4). Andrew Riley of Palm Beach Atlantic, who shot 62 on Thursday, fired a 1-under 70 and stands 10-under overall. He has a 2-stroke lead on Barry's A.J. Ewart.