To be eligible for Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar status, an individual must be a junior or senior academically and compete in at least two full years at the collegiate level, participate in 70-percent of his team’s competitive rounds or compete in the NCAA Championships, have a stroke average under 76.0 and maintain a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.2. A recipient must also be of high moral character and be in good standing at his college or university.

A native of Mustang, Okla., Bryan carried a 73.71 stroke average his senior year to lead the team while earning Academic All-Big 12 distinction every year he was eligible for league acclaim.

Bryan was also the most recent recipient of the Charlie Coe award at OU which recognizes the most valuable player on the men’s golf squad as well as a member of the PING All-Region team during his senior season. Bryan was named the program’s assistant coach on May 30.

A total of 96 players earned Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar acclaim at the Division I level.

Schutte (-1) carded rounds of 71,71 and 73 to pace the Sooners who fired rounds of 292 (+4), 298 (+10) and 298 (+10) in finishing at +24 (808) for the tournament.

Five squads in the tournament were ranked in the latest Golfstat top-50 poll.

Texas A&M led wire-to-wire, finishing first after a final-round 17-under-par 271. The Aggies played the 54-hole event at 37-under-par for a 20-shot victory over second-place San Diego State.

Overnight co-leader Nacho Elvira of A&M carded a final-round 66 for a three-shot victory.

Eric Durbin and Phillip Bryan both finished in a tie for 47th at +10 for the Sooners. A stroke back was freshman Liam Logan who fired a final-round 79.

Rounding out the OU scoring was Ben Blundell, who recovered nicely from a bout with food poisoning, with a second-day 73 after having to officially withdraw from the event on Monday morning.

OU returns to the links on April 11 when the Sooners travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.

The tournament will now be shortened to 36 holes. Play will resume tomorrow with an 8:15 a.m. CT shotgun start for the final 18 holes.

The OU women’s golf team is tied for seventh place with Indiana, Iowa State and Missouri going into the final round. The Sooners are just one shot behind sixth-place Nebraska, three behind fifth-place Notre Dame and nine strokes back of fourth-place Arkansas.

Junior Kendall Dye stands tied for 11th place individually for the Sooners at five-over-par, five shots out of the lead.

Team Standings1. New Mexico – 303 (+15)
2. Florida – 305 (+17)
3. Texas – 308 (+20)
4. Arkansas – 311 (+23)
5. Notre Dame – 317 (+29)
6. Nebraska – 319 (+31)
T7. Oklahoma – 320 (+32)
T7. Indiana — 320 (+32)
T7. Iowa State — 320 (+32)
T7. Missouri – 320 (+32)
T11. TCU – 321 (+33)
T11. Ohio State – 321 (+33)
13. SMU – 323 (+35)
14. Kansas – 325 (+37)
T15. Baylor – 329 (+41)
T15. Kansas State – 329 (+41)
T15. Wisconsin – 329 (+41)
18. Texas B – 331 (+43)

Individual Standings1. Ornella Joven, Florida – 72 (E)
2. Alexandra Phelps, New Mexico – 73 (+1)
T3. Julia Best, Texas – 74 (+2)
T3. Stacy Lewis, Arkansas – 74 (+2)
T5. Britney Choy, New Mexico – 75 (+3)
T5. Casey Hines, Texas – 75 (+3)

OU Individual StandingsT11. Kendall Dye – 77 (+5)
T33. Kelly Jacques – 80 (+8)
T43. Staci Smoot – 81 (+9)
T52. Ellen Mueller – 82 (+10)
T66. Heather Wright – 84 (+12)

“This will be a very competitive tournament, but I think with how we played in Florida that the team is fired up for a good finish,” OU head coach Carol Ludvigson said. “The key to this course will be getting acquainted with the speed of the greens and figuring out how the ball will react to short shots.”

The Sooners, ranked 34th in the GolfWeek/Sagarin Performance Index and 43rd in the Golfstat Ratings, finished tied for sixth a year ago at this same tournament and had three top-15 finishes, including Kelly Jacques’ tie for eighth.

“We have had success on this course in the past, and we really need to have a good finish to get the momentum rolling into March,” Ludvigson said.

The Sooners will be going up against fellow Big 12 Conference members Iowa State (No. 40) and Texas Tech (No. 50), as well as No. 6 Arkansas, No. 10 Georgia, No. 11 Purdue, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 16 Alabama, No. 17 Kent State, No. 27 LSU, No. 28 South Carolina, No. 30 TCU, No. 41 Florida State, No. 42 N.C. State, Central Florida, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. All rankings are from the GolfWeek/Sagarin Performance Index.

“I look forward to a top-five team finish and a few top-10 finishes individually as well,” Ludvigson said. “We really need Kelly (Jacques) and Heather (Wright) to step up, and they feel confident they can to give the team momentum.”

Play begins all three days at 7 a.m. CT with a shotgun start.

THE SOONER LINEUPKendall Dye: finished tied for 18th at last week’s Central District Invitational
Heather Wright: owns low round by an OU golfer this season (70, Farr Memorial)
Kelly Jacques: third place on the OU career stroke average list (77.05)
Ellen Mueller: true freshman has competed in all five Sooner events this season
Ryanne Elmer: first tournament since the fall season-opening Badger Invitational

PLAYER TO WATCHHeather Wright, the senior from Houston, Texas, tied for the Sooners’ low round at the Central District Invitational with a 74 in the first round.

“We definitely did not perform how we wanted or to our expectations, but we had some high moments,” OU head coach Carol Ludvigson said. “This included Kendall (Dye) finishing in the top 20.”

Junior Kendall Dye tied for 18th place with a three-round score of 229 (+13), her ninth career top-20 finish. Her final-round 74 (+2) equaled the Sooners’ low round of the tournament.

Senior Heather Wright carded a final-round 79 (+7) to finish in a tie for 28th place at 232 (+16), and senior Kelly Jacques finished with a 79 as well to tie for 41st with a score of 236 (+20).

Freshman Ellen Mueller fired a 78 in the final round to finish in a 50th-place tie at 239 (+23), while sophomore Chelsey Collins tied for 64th after posting a three-round score of 245 (+29).

OU’s final-round 310 was its low score of the tournament. The Sooners’ total score of 935 ranked ahead of Northwestern, Baylor and Kansas State.

“We struggled putting here, but it was good practice for Puerto Rico,” Ludvigson said. “The team is very disappointed, but plan on using this as fuel to fire them up going into the next tournament. We usually play well in Puerto Rico and look forward to posting some low scores.”

Oklahoma returns to action next week at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, Feb. 24-26 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Sooners posted the lowest final round of any team in the top five with a third round team score of 286 (+2) at the 6,765-yard, par 71 layout, besting its second round score by 11 shots.

The Sooners jumped from fifth to third on day two and came within a stroke of eclipsing No. 17 Texas Tech, who finished second at 873 (+21).

Leading the Oklahoma charge was senior Phillip Bryan who posted rounds of 70, 72 and 71 (E), finishing in a three-way tie for second. Three shots back was freshman Liam Logan who placed eighth after a final-round 70 (-1). In 18th was Jesse Schutte who carded scores of 70, 74 and 77. Rounding out the OU scoring were Ben Blundell and Eric Durbin who placed 53rd and 79th, respectively. Blundell (73) and Durbin (72) both shot their low round of the tournament on Tuesday.

Competing unattached from team scoring was sophomore Tyler Rody, who fired rounds of 71, 73 and 81 in finishing tied for 39th.

“I was proud of the way the team bounced back and played a competitive final round,” said head coach Jim Ragan. “I was proud of the way Phil and Liam played throughout the event and happy to see the rest of the guys make the adjustments they needed to make to play a solid round of golf today. We are closer to playing the way we know we are capable of and look forward to getting back to work and improving each and every week.”

Overnight leader Mississippi State took home the team title with a three-round score of 864 (+12). An MSU Bulldog also captured medalist honors as Noah Goldman held on for a one-stroke victory after a final-round 75.

Oklahoma returns to the links on March 3 when the Sooners travel to Westlake Village, Calif., for the USC Collegiate Invitational. The Sooners tied for eighth in the event last season in a 15-team field that featured six teams ranked in Golf Weeks’s top-15 rankings.

“This will be an excellent tournament to start our spring season since we will be up against many of the teams in the Central District that are either ahead of us in ranking or very close,” Head Coach Carol Ludvigson said. “It is a very competitive tournament and will be a course that I feel should suit our games. We have a very strong team and I feel they are getting mentally stronger every time we tee it up.”

The Sooners, ranked 34th by the Golfweek Magazine/Sagarin performance index ratings and 32nd in the Golfstat ratings, had two tournament victories in four events during the fall season, and they look to carry that success over to the spring.

“There is such desire to win on this team that they seem to continue to push one another to reach higher goals,” Ludvigson said.

The Sooner lineup consists of senior Kelly Jacques, junior Kendall Dye, senior Heather Wright, freshman Ellen Mueller and sophomore Chelsey Collins.

“This will be a good measuring stick as to where we are and where we need to be,” Ludvigson said.

The Sooners are one of seven Big 12 teams competing in the tournament. Also participating from the conference are Baylor, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas and Texas A&M. The rest of the 15-team field consists of Indiana, Kent State, Michigan, host Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State and SMU.

Play begins Monday at 7 a.m Oklahoma time.

The Sooners continued their momentum from Wednesday’s good showing, posting a 4-under-par 276 team score at the par-70, 6,738-yard course.

Pacing Oklahoma for the second consecutive round was Jesse Schutte, who fired a 5-under-par 65. The 2007 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year stands in a tie for seventh with 18 holes to play.

Sophomore’s Eric Durbin and Ben Blundell are both in a tie for 31st after rounds of 71 and 68, respectively. Freshman Ryan Sirman is a stroke back of the pair after a second-round 72 while sophomore Tyler Rody rounds out the OU competitors in a tie for 78th after shooting 75 in Thursday’s play.

Stanford jumped into the team lead, after a blistering 17-under-par 263 in which the Cardinal did not count a score worse than 68.

Nine teams competing in this week’s event are ranked in the Golfweek top 50, including three top-10 schools – No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 8 USC and No. 10 Stanford. Along with the Sooners, Oregon State, TCU, Texas Tech, Arizona State and Oregon round out the other squads in the top 50.

ASU’s Jesper Kennegard and USC’s Jamie Lovemark share the top spot in the medalist race at nine-under.

The event marks OU’s first spring competition after recording four top-5 finishes in five fall events, including a season-best-tying third in the last fall tournament – the Santa Clara Invitational on Oct. 22-23.

Final-round action begins at 7 a.m. (HST) on Friday.