Pichaikool Earns Top-10 Finish as Golf Dawgs Conclude Season

Wednesday, May 15

Simpsonville, Ky. (UofL GC)

All Day

Mississippi State

NCAA Louisville Regional

Pichaikool Earns Top-10 Finish as Golf Dawgs Conclude Season

May 15, 2019 | Men's Golf

By Austin Coats, Student Assistant/Communications

SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – Junior Peng Pichaikool capped another great season by becoming just the third Mississippi men's golf student-athlete to finish in the top 10 at an NCAA Regional.

Shooting a 2-under 69 in Wednesday's final round of the NCAA Louisville Regional, Pichaikool placed tied for 10th at 3-under par to earn his seventh top-15 performance of the 2018-19 season and the 16th of his career. The junior's performance is MSU's best individual NCAA performance since Noah Goldman tied for eighth at the 2008 NCAA Chattanooga Regional and the third-best all-time.

Wednesday was Pichaikool's best round, as he shot an opening-round even 71 Monday and a 70 the next day. The Bangkok, Thailand native totaled 11 birdies this week.

Pichaikool owned the University of Louisville Golf Club in 2018-19, shooting a combined 15-under par between two events this season. Pichaikool also tallied 30 birdies over six rounds.

As a team, Mississippi State went into the day 14 strokes from the fifth-place cut line but finished six strokes away from qualifying for NCAA Championship play. The Golf Dawgs shot a 3-under 281 in the final round, third only to No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 25 Baylor, which both carded 7-under rounds. State came within four strokes of fifth late into the round.

"I'm so proud of our team and how they fought today," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "Today's round showed the character of this team. There was never any quit and we battled until the final putt dropped."

MSU's seventh-place finish stands as the second-best in program history and the best since the 2008 NCAA Chattanooga Regional, where the team tied for fourth. MSU finished higher than four teams ranked in the Golfweek Top 50.

Like Pichaikool, junior Garrett Johnson also carded a 69 on Wednesday. His opening two rounds punished him as he and freshman Ford Clegg finished tied for 29th at 4-over.

"Garrett and Peng did a nice job of setting the pace today," Smith said. "Both of their rounds were huge on a day we needed to shoot a low one."

Senior Ross Bell played the final round in place of redshirt freshman Ben Nelson and carded an even 71 to help MSU's score. Fellow senior Austin Rose shot 1-over par in the final round, bouncing back from a 13-over total the previous two days. Both seniors played their final rounds in Maroon and White.

"Our two seniors, Austin Rose and Ross Bell left it all on the line for this program their last five years," Smith said. "We are going to miss them and what they brought to our team."

Pichaikool, Clegg and Johnson's season stroke averages each finished within the program's top 10. Pichaikool tied his personal best and the second-lowest ever with a 71.15 mark. Clegg's 71.85 average placed eighth, while Garrett Johnson's 72.00 average tied for tenth.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.

MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith:

"I'm so proud of our team and how they fought today. Today's round showed the character of this team. There was never any quit and we battled until the final putt dropped. Garrett and Peng did a nice job of setting the pace today. Both of their rounds were huge on a day we needed to shoot a low one. It's always tough when your season ends short of where you wanted to be. Our two seniors, Austin Rose and Ross Bell left it all on the line for this program their last five years. We are going to miss them and what they brought to our team. We need to learn from this experience and come back hungry for more next season. This summer will be big for the current members on the team and the ones that will be joining us in August. Hail State!"

NCAA Louisville Regional
1. Oklahoma State (278+283+277=838, -14)
2. Auburn (276+277+289=842, -10)
3. Baylor (280+288+277=845, -7)
4. Louisville (280+291+288=859, +7)
5. North Florida (292+285+283=860, +8)
6. West Virginia (286+293+283=862, +10)
7. Mississippi State (294+291+281=866, +14)
8. Iowa State (288+282+297=867, +15)
9. Arizona (287+291+291=869, +17)
10. Southern Illinois (301+289+287=877, +25)
11. Arkansas State (295+290+293=878, +26)
12. New Mexico (302+291+288=881, +29)
13. Jacksonville State (300+297+289=886, +34)

MSU Players
T10. Peng Pichaikool (71+70+69=210, -3)
T29. Garrett Johnson (74+74+69=217, +4)
T29. Ford Clegg (72+69+76=217, +4)
63. Austin Rose (77+78+72=227, +14)
Did not place
Ben Nelson (77+79+0=156, +14)
Ross Bell (0+0+71=71, E)