June 2, 2006

SUNRIVER, Ore. - DU senior men's golfer James Love (Calgary, Alberta) shot a third-round 2-under par 70 at the NCAA Championships on Friday, moving up from a tie for 63rd to a tie for 21st place with a 54-hole score of 216. In a seven-player playoff for the last of six spots to move on to the final round, play was suspended because of darkness with Love, Coastal Carolina's Zack Byrd and USC's Taylor Wood all tied and having to resume the playoff at 8 a.m. Saturday morning for the final two spots. Love is attempting to become the first Pioneer men's golfer since the program was reinstated to the Division I level in 1999 to advance to the final round. The top six players not on advancing teams play in the final round.

Love opened with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole (his first) at Sunriver Golf Course and birdied the seventh to make the turn at 2-under, and had two more birdies and a pair of bogeys on the back to finish with his best round of the tournament. Love has fired rounds of 71-75-70 - 216 (even-par) and is one of only 21 players in the 156-player field to finish the first three rounds at par or better.

The top 15 teams and top six individuals not on advancing teams move on to Saturday's final round to determine the individual and team national champions. Love is nine strokes back of the lead, as Jonathan Moore of Oklahoma State is the third round leader with a 9-under par total of 207. Moore is in front by one stroke over Kyle Reifers of Wake Forest (208).

Washington (857), Oklahoma State (860), Wake Forest (860), Arizona State (860), Minnesota (865), Lamar (865), Clemson (866), Florida (867), Georgia (869), Texas A&M (870), Arizona (870), UCLA (870), Kentucky (870), Duke (871) and BYU (874) are the teams advancing to Saturday's final round. BYU advanced by winning a sudden-death playoff over Coastal Carolina.

Live scoring of the 2006 NCAA National Championships can be found at the following website address: www.golfstatresults.com