Feb. 7, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - Junior golfer Garrett Merrell carded the third-best round of the tournament with a 64 Thursday during the second round of the Hawaii-Hilo Intercollegiate at the par-70 Waikoloa Village Golf Course. No. 16 Texas Tech stands in fourth place and eight shots off the lead heading into Friday's final round.

Merrell's performance catapulted him from a 36th-place tie in the opening round to an 11th-place tied with two other players, including teammate Santiago Rivas, who shot a 1-under 69 Thursday. Mid-year transfer Chris Ward shot even par and stands at 4-under for the tournament in a 14th-place tie, while Will Griffin was 2-over on the day with a 72 and is in a 31st-place tie. Sergio Franky is tied in 70th place with rounds of 73 and 72.

USC's Jamie Lovemark takes a 9-under 131 and the tournament lead into the final round, while Merrell and Rivas enter the final round four shots back.

No. 10 Stanford leads the event after carding a tournament-best 263. The Cardinal is 22-under for the event, followed by Arizona State (-17), No. 8 USC (-16), Texas Tech (-14) and No. 4 Georgia Tech (-13), respectively. Washington (-10), Oregon State (-9), Oklahoma (-7), Oregon (-5) and Colorado (-2) round out the top 10.

TCU (-1), UC Davis (+5), CSU-Bakersfield (+6), Kansas (+7), host Hawaii-Hilo (+8), Hawaii (+10), Santa Clara (+12) and Pacific (+13) round out the field.

Results can be found on www.golfstat.com or at www.texastech.com.