FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — Julian Perico carded a 76 in the third round and posted a 6-over-par score of 222 after 54 holes to finish in a tie for 34th at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship, played at Blessings Golf Club (par 72, 7,550 yards).
The Razorback freshman missed the cut by one stroke to advance Monday’s final round of stroke play as Wil Miles (South Carolina), Justin Kim (UNLV) and Trent Phillips (Georgia) each had a score of 5-over-par 221 (29th-tied). The trio will have a playoff Monday morning to determine the final spot.
By tying for 34th, Perico did beat 115 golfers in his first NCAA Championship, tied three golfers ranked among the NCAA top 25 and beat 44 golfers ranked among the nation’s top 100, including 13 of the nation’s top 30.
“My game felt great and I thought I played great,” Perico said. “I rolled it great, but I kept misreading the greens. My (putting) mechanics were good and my speed was good. I hit the ball incredible, but I missed eight putts inside eight feet today.”
Perico opened with pars on his first two holes – holes 10 and 11. He dropped a shot on 12 then ran off five straight pars. He just missed a birdie on the par-3, 17th. He then had back-to-back bogeys to stand at 3-over for the day. Perico held steady with pars on his next three holes. On the par-5, 5th, Perico crushed a 3-wood over the trees and up the hill for an eagle opportunity before settling for a birdie. He had a good look at a second birdie on the par-4, 6th but just missed. Perico closed his round with bogies on his 16th and 18th holes for a 4-over-par 76.
Perico ends his rookie campaign with the Razorbacks by earning PING All-Region and SEC All-Freshman. He posted a season stroke average of 71.54, which led the team, ranks sixth on the school’s single-season list and is an Arkansas freshman record. Perico led the team with rounds in the 60’ (12)s, top 5’s (3), being tournament low man five times and posting the lowest round 16 times.