Oct. 30, 2007

GREENSBORO, Ga. – In a battle for third place at the Callaway Golf Collegiate Match Play Championship, 10th seed South Carolina fell to ninth-seeded Florida 4-1 Tuesday afternoon. Sophomore Paul Woodbury (Lake City, S.C./Lake City) scored the lone victory for the Gamecocks, topping Toby Ragland 3 and 2 in the No. 4 spot.

Woodbury fell behind Ragland early, trailing by as much as four after the eighth hole. The sophomore, who won two of his previous three matches in the event, rattled off wins in the next five holes, including birdies on Nos. 9 and 10, to take the lead with a go-ahead birdie on the par-3 13th. The players halved No. 14 before Woodbury collected wins on Nos. 15 and 16 to seal the victory.

Sophomore George Bryan IV (Chapin, S.C./Dutch Fork) battled through the tightest pairing of the match in the team’s top spot. A birdie on the first hold put Bryan in front before Florida’s Will Strickland claimed the next two holes. A par on No. 5 brought Bryan all square, and the players posted matching 4s on the next four holes. Strickland reclaimed the lead with a birdie on the par-5 10th only to see Bryan go ahead with a birdie and a par on Nos. 12 and 13, respectively. Strickland answered with back-to-back pars to win the next two holes and added a birdie to win the 17th and claim the 2 and 1 win.

In the No. 2 spot, Patrick Rada (Anderson, S.C./T.L. Hanna) dropped a 3 and 2 decision to Tyler Brown. Rada struck first with a win on the second hold before Brown won the next five holes to put the Gamecock sophomore down four through seven. Moving up from No. 5 to No. 3 in the final match of the event, junior Florian Fritsch also got in front early against Manuel Villegas with a birdie on the par-5 first. After Villegas evened the match with a par on No. 4, Fritsch stayed within striking distance until Villegas picked up wins on the last three holes to take the 4 and 2 victory.

Senior Mark Anderson (Beaufort, S.C./Beaufort Academy) took his 2-1 record to Bank Vongvanij in the No. 5 spot. After falling behind early, Anderson used a pair of birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 to take a lead. A bogey on No. 7 evened the match, and Anderson reclaimed the lead on the par-4 ninth. Vongvanij birdied No. 10 to again draw even the surged ahead with a birdie on No. 12. After falling behind by two through 14 holes, Anderson narrowed the gap with a par on No 15 but saw Vongvanij match his scores on the final three holes to win the match 1 up.

Florida finished third in the event behind champion UCLA, which topped Georgia Tech 4-1.

WINNERS CONSOLATION A FINAL
(9) Florida def. (10) South Carolina, 4-1
Will Strickler (FL) def. George Bryan IV, 2 and 1
Tyler Brown (FL) def. Patrick Rada, 3 and 2
Manuel Villegas (FL) def. Florian Fritsch, 4 and 2
Paul Woodbury (SC) def. Toby Ragland, 3 and 2
Amond Vongvanij (FL) def. Mark Anderson, 1-up