CARLSBAD, California – The world’s top-ranked amateur has been eliminated from the individual portion of the NCAA Championships.
Georgia Tech senior Christo Lamprecht withdrew Saturday morning before starting the second round at Omni La Costa due to a back injury. Yellow Jackets head coach Bruce Heppler confirmed to GolfChannel.com that Lamprecht’s back “exploded” in the middle of Lamprecht’s first-round 2-under 70.
The 6-foot-8 Lamprecht was replaced by Aidan Tran, a sophomore who tied for 12th in his only start this spring, in the Calusa Cup, and who shot a 5-over 77 on Saturday after a front of nine pairs. Tran’s score tied for the team’s highest in the second round as the Yellow Jackets shot up 13 to stay in the match-play hunt.
Toward the end of the round, Lamprecht worked downhill to see his teammates finish in number 18. As he headed back uphill toward the resort’s main building, he was in visible pain and stopped about halfway down to grab his back. and bending.
Hepple was not optimistic that his star player would be able to return as a substitute in Sunday’s third round.
“It’s not good,” Hepple said. “I won’t see him tomorrow. He is blocked and spasming. Sometimes that’s due to being a little dehydrated and stuff; I had a problem myself in the fall during my fundraising. And I told him that stress is hard. Not that I ever get angry about anything, but my back tenses up when I get like that. And it’s been a long spring with a lot on the line and a couple of trips to Dallas and Fort Worth to get awards and be a part of that, and it’s a lot, and agents… I just know that sometimes the stress will certainly exacerbate your back. ”
Heppler added that Lamprecht could be “punctured” and was hopeful that Lamprecht could return to the lineup on Monday.
In addition to competing for a national title this week, Lamprecht was also trying to earn a PGA Tour card through PGA Tour University. He needed to win at La Costa and for Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen to finish outside the top 10; Thorbjornsen will now officially be offered a season and a half of Tour membership starting this summer.
“I feel bad for him,” Heppler said. “Everyone made fun of him for the way he played at Grayhawk. If he had played well, everyone would have won the national championship. He’s carried it around for a year and he hears things. He is the last one, he wants to play well for the guys, I think that has been as important to him as the PGA Tour U, and to be stuck here without helping them is difficult.”
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