05/16/2009 - Duke Sports Information

ALVATON, KY -- Junior Adam Long fired a two-under 70 in the third round on Saturday to help lead Duke to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Central Regional at The Club at Olde Stone. The Blue Devils shot a three-over 291 in the final round to finish with a 17-over 881 and advance to the NCAA Championship (May 26-30) at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.

"We are all elated to advance to the NCAA Championship," said head coach Jamie Green. "In this new format everybody is trying to figure out exactly how it is going to play out. There are good teams and players at every site and I felt like this golf course played as well as any we have seen all year. Everyone feels great about being able to come through on the other end and have a successful week on such a quality course with so many good teams."

UCLA captured the team crown with a one-under 863. The Bruins shot a two-under 286 to overcome a seven-shot deficit heading into the final round. Washington finished second with a six-over 870, while Georgia Tech and Ohio State were tied for third at +16. Duke finished fifth at 17-over to grab a spot in the NCAA Championship field. Louisville, Mississippi and N.C. State finished tied for sixth four shots behind the Blue Devils. N.C. State's Matt Hill won the individual crown with a four-under 212 to grab an individual spot in the NCAA Championship field.

Duke opened the day by closing out the second round with a four-over 292. The Blue Devils were in seventh place at 14-over after the second round of play. Matthew Pierce shot a one-under 71 in the second round, while Long and Wes Roach each finished the round at even-par. Duke entered the final round one stroke out of the top five with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championship.

The Blue Devils got off to a strong start in the final round with five birdies and an eagle on the opening two holes to jump into the top five. Duke took advantage of the par 5s in the final round carding seven birdies and an eagle and playing the par 5s at three-under for the day.

"Getting off to a fast start in the third round was absolutely key for us," added Green. "Clark [Klaasen] and Adam's [Long] play throughout the day in the afternoon was critical. Not just to get it under-par, but to keep it there on a really tough second nine. The wind started kicking up and was wreaking havoc on a couple of shots."

Long opened the third round with a birdie on No. 10 and moved to three-under after draining a 45-foot eagle putt on the par 5 11th hole. Following a bogey on No. 12, he chipped to three feet on No. 14 and made birdie to get back to three-under. Long suffered bogeys on No. 15 and No. 1 to slip to one-under with eight holes remaining. The St. Louis, Mo., native carded seven pars and a birdie on the par 3 eighth hole to post his team-best ninth under-par round of the season. Long closed the tournament with an even-par 216 to finish tied for seventh overall.

"I got off to a hot start in the final round with the birdie-eagle start and from then on I just focused on keeping it under-par," said Long. "I wanted to get to four or five-under par but after about 10 holes the wind picked up and I had to readjust my goal. I just wanted to play those last few holes at even-par or under and I was able to do that. It was a fun day, watching Pierce make some birdies coming down the stretch and Clark making pars from all over the place."

Senior Clark Klaasen rebounded from a seven-over 79 in the second round to shoot a one-under 71 in the final round. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native opened birdie-birdie and added birdies on No. 14 and No. 18 to make the turn at four-under in the final round. He hit his driver to eight feet on the 331-yard, par 4 14th hole and just missed an eagle putt for the second day in a row. Klaasen suffered back-to-back bogeys to open the front nine, but rebounded with a birdie on the par 4 fourth hole to get back to three-under. With Duke firmly locked into the top five, he bogeyed No. 8 and No. 9 to cap off his eighth under-par round of the season. Klaasen finished the Central Regional tied for 27th with a seven-over 223.

"I was pretty frustrated with the way I closed out the second round," said Klaasen. "I didn't pout about the second round and it was a boost heading straight to No. 10 for the final round. I got off to a great start and played about as well as I could on the opening nine holes. Our second nine today was pretty tough, especially the last couple of holes. It would have been nice to finish par-par, but overall it was a really good round. I am just really happy that we made it through to the NCAA Championship."

Pierce, a sophomore from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., shot a one-over 73 on Saturday to finish tied for 13th with a two-over 218. He matched a season-high with six birdies on the day but also had five bogeys and a double-bogey in the round. Pierce came through on the par 3s in the final round with birdies on No. 16, No. 3 and No. 8. He also birdied the par 5 11th and 18th holes.

Senior Michael Quagliano opened with a birdie on No. 10 and played his opening nine holes at even-par on Saturday. He added a birdie on the par 5 second hole to get back to one-under before running into trouble over the next seven holes. The Ardsley, N.Y., native had three pars, two bogeys and two double-bogeys to close the round with a five-over 77. Quagliano finished tied for 55th with a 16-over 232.

Roach got off to a terrible start with a bogey on No. 10 and a quadruple-bogey on No. 11 to fall to five-over. He recovered to play the remaining 16 holes at one-over with birdies on No. 14, No. 18 and No. 2 to finish with a six-over 78. The Knoxville, Tenn., native closed the tournament with an 11-over 227 to finish tied for 44th.

Duke will be in action at the NCAA Championship at Inverness Club May 26-30.

NOTES
*** Adam Long's seventh place finish was his fifth top 10 showing of the year ... he has finished in the top 10 of Duke's last three events.

*** Matthew Pierce now has five top 20 finishes in five events this spring ... Pierce missed a majority of the fall season while recovering from offseason knee surgery.

*** Duke has finished in the top 5 in four of the last five 54-hole tournaments ... the Blue Devils have a 41-12 head-to-head record against its competition in that stretch.

*** Adam Long and Matthew Pierce finished the tournament tied for second in par 3 scoring at one-under (2.92 stroke per hole) ... Pierce also finished tied for the tournament lead in par 5 scoring a five-under (4.58 stroke per hole).

*** Clark Klaasen and Adam Long were tied for fifth with 11 birdies for the tournament ... Matthew Pierce was tied for 12th with 10 birdies.