May 20, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Coming off a pair of disappointing finishes in the Wildcats' last two tournaments, Tom Johnson (Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo) thrust himself into contention for the NCAA Central Regional individual title by shooting an even-par 72 Thursday afternoon at Purdue's Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex-Kampen Course.
Johnson, along with 140 other golfers, will play the second round of the 54-hole tournament on Friday. The Wildcat senior tees off at 9:09 a.m.
Johnson started the tournament at the 10th hole, and begin the day with a birdie. He finished 1-over for the first nine holes and 1-under on his last nine. His first round featured four birdies, 10 pars and four bogeys.
Johnson is three strokes off the lead, which is held by a trio of players at 3-under: Oklahoma State's Casey Wittenberg, Texas A&M's Andrew Parr and Texas' Jason Hartwick. Indiana's Jeff Overton is the only Big Ten athlete ahead of Johnson, at 1-under.
The top two individual finishers, who are not associated with an advancing team, will qualify for one of the six at-large national championship berths.
Live stats and latest results are available for the tournament by linking to 2004 NCAA Central Regional Championships.