June 3, 2005

Owings Mills, MD - Senior All-American Michael Putnam will carry a one-shot lead into Saturday's final round of the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships that will conclude at the par-70, 7,131-yard Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland.

Playing in a steady rain, Putnam carded a 3-over par 73 and has a 54-hole total of 207 and holds a one-shot lead over Georgia Tech's Roberto Castro and Augusta State's Major Manning. Both players are at 2-under 208.

Putnam is looking to become the first Pepperdine men's golfer to win an individual national championship and the school's first student-athlete in any sport to capture an individual title since Robbie Weiss won the 1988 singles title in men's tennis.

The senior from Tacoma, Washington, was at even-par through 14 holes before suffering a double-bogey on the par 4, 490-yard sixth hole and finishing with a bogey on the par 4, 435-yard ninth hole.

Putnam is scheduled to tee off at 5:18 PDT on Saturday. Livestats will be available at www.golfstat.com.