March 23, 2015

Results

PALM CITY, Fla. — After grinding through 36 holes on Monday at Floridian National Golf Club, the seventh-ranked South Carolina men’s golf team is in third place at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational with a total of 564 (-4).

The Gamecocks shot an opening-round 285 (+1) before posting a 5-under 279 in the second round. Carolina will enter Tuesday’s final round trailing LSU by 11 strokes. The Tigers lead the tournament with a total of 553 (-15) and hold a one-stroke lead over second-place Florida State (554). South Florida is in fourth place with a total of 568 (E), while UCLA rounds out the top five with a total of 574 (+6).

Three Gamecock golfers finished the day inside the top 20. Senior Will Murphy carded consecutive rounds of 70 (-1) and is tied for ninth with a total of 140 (-2). Junior Matt NeSmith is tied for 15th with a total of 141 (-1) after shooting rounds of 70 (-1) and 71 (E). Senior Caleb Sturgeon bounced back from an opening-round 75 (+4) to fire a 4-under 67 in the second round. Sturgeon finished the day in a tie for 17th with a total of 142 (E).

Juniors Will Starke and Sean Kelly closed out the day in a tie for 41st with a total of 148 (+6). Starke turned in rounds of 70 (-1) and 78 (+7), while Kelly shot rounds of 77 (+6) and 71 (E).

Texas A&M’s Greg Yates sits atop the individual leaderboard with a total of 134 (-8) after shooting consecutive rounds of 67.

Round Changer
Sturgeon shook off an opening-round 75 (+4) to fire a 4-under 67 to lead the Gamecocks in the second round. After recording just two birdies in the first round, Sturgeon tallied a team-best eight in the final 18 holes, including back-to-back birdies on his final two holes of the day.

Notable
• Carolina was one of only five teams to post a round under par on Monday. The Gamecocks’ second-round 279 (-5) was one of only 7 sub-par rounds out of 26. LSU and Florida State shot four of those rounds.
• The Gamecocks are one of five top-10 teams competing at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational. Second-ranked Florida State is the only one ahead of the Gamecocks in second at 14-under. Tenth-ranked UCLA is fifth at 6-over. Top-ranked Illinois is eighth at 12-over, while No. 5 Georgia Tech is tied for ninth at 16-over.
• A top-five finish on Tuesday would be Carolina’s seventh straight. The Gamecocks have finished in the top five in 15 of their last 18 events heading into this week.
• NeSmith and Sturgeon are tied for second in total birdies with 10.
• Starke and Murphy each recorded an Eagle for the Gamecocks.
• Starke’s opening-round 70 (-1) broke his streak of eight-straight rounds in the 60s. His second-round 78 is his first round over par since shooting a 78 in the first round of the Bayou City Collegiate Championship on Feb. 20.

Up Next
The Gamecocks will tee off in the final round on Tuesday beginning at 9:33 a.m. and will be paired with LSU and Florida State. Live scoring will be available at golfstatresults.com.