Sept. 27, 2008

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Another strong performance Saturday by the South Carolina men’s golf team has the Gamecocks six shots clear of the field heading into Sunday’s final round at the Mason Rudolph Invitational at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Carolina had three of five players under par on the day as it extended its first-round lead with a 4-under-par 280 on the par 71 South Course. Through 36 holes, the Gamecocks stand at 7-under, six shots ahead of South Alabama, who had the low round of the day at 5-under.

Freshman Wesley Bryan rebounded in a huge way from a tough round yesterday, making a 12-shot turnaround with a 2-under 69 to pace the Gamecocks. Bryan hovered just over par for most of his round and was 2-over after the 12th hole, but birdies at 14 and 16 and an eagle 3 at the par-5 17th got him to red numbers and equaled the low round of the day for Carolina.

Mark Silvers III was 2-under at the turn and got to minus-3 with a birdie at the 12th, but a bogey at the 14th dropped him back to 2-under as he finished with another 69 for the Gamecocks. Coupled with his 1-under 70 Friday, Silvers stands in a three-way tie for fifth overall heading into Sunday’s final round.

Junior George Bryan IV, who led the way for Carolina in Friday’s first round, had another good performance with two birdies en route to a 1-over 72. Bryan is tied for 10th with five other competitors after two rounds of play. Patrick Rada followed up his even par performance Friday with another strong round, firing a 1-under 70 to give the Gamecocks three rounds under par. Rada had nine pars on the front nine, then countered a pair of bogeys on 10 and 12 with three birdies to finish on the good side of par.

Allen Koon struggled on the front nine with four bogeys, but managed to shoot even par on the back side to finish with a 75 (+4).

Kentucky’s Ben Fuqua and Middle Tennessee’s Jason Millard torched the Legends Club South Course with a pair of 65s to take the top two spots on the individual leaderboard at 9-under and 8-under, respectively.

The Gamecocks will tee it up Sunday, again in the final pairings, which will go off tee No. 1 beginning at 10:15 a.m. Eastern time. Carolina will be paired with Kentucky and South Alabama for the final round of play.