Sept. 24, 2010

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Freshman Blaine Woodruff continued his strong play in Friday’s first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship, posting a 2-under-par 69 to lead South Carolina. The Gamecocks shot 285 (+1) to tie host Vanderbilt for fourth place following 18 holes of play at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course.

Woodruff, a native of Acworth, Ga., started with a pair of pars but then made bogey at the third. He would remain 1-over with pars on his next nine holes, then caught fire down the stretch. Back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14 got him to red figures, and another birdie on the closing hole helped him to break 70 for the first time as a Gamecock. Individually, Woodruff is tied for sixth place through one round.

Junior Wesley Bryan rebounded nicely from a tough weekend at the season-opening event two weeks ago by posting an even-par 71 on Friday. A birdie-bogey stretch on holes six and seven kept him even as he made the turn, but a double-bogey at the 10th dropped him to 2-over. However, he finished strong with a birdie at the 14th to get back within a stroke of par, and then like Woodruff, he birdied the 18th to finish the day at level par. Bryan is tied for 16th place.

Freshman Caulder Moore, playing in his first collegiate event, shot 72 (+1) to earn a tie for 28th place following one round of play. Moore, a native of Isle of Palms, S.C., got off to a slow start with bogeys at the first and fourth holes to drop to 2-over. But a birdie at No. 8 helped his confidence as he was bogey-free for a nine-hole stretch in the middle of his round. A tough double-bogey at the 14th dropped him to 3-over for the day, but he came back strong with birdies at the 15th and 17th to finish a 1-over-par day.

Dean Hester, a sophomore in the lineup for the second time, had an up-and-down round that concluded with a 2-over-par 73. Hester was 2-under through his first six holes after birdies at the first, third and sixth along with a bogey at No. 4. A bogey at the ninth dropped him to 1-under at the turn, but a triple-bogey 7 at the par-4 10th moved him to 2-over for the day. He got one stroke back with birdie at No. 12, but made double bogey at the 17th to move back to 3-over. Like most of the field, he birdied the closing 18th to finish at 2-over for the day.

A 14-par round was marred by only two bogeys and a double-bogey for freshman Logan Harrell, who finished with a 3-over-par 74. Harrell made double-bogey on the opening hole of the day, then rolled off nine straight pars before back-to-back bogeys on 11 and 12. He did make birdie at the 17th, however, to move back to 3-over through 18 holes.

Oklahoma and Memphis are tied for the lead in the team standings, with each posting a 274 (-10) in the opening round. Ole Miss is in third place, three shots ahead of South Carolina and Vanderbilt at 282 (-2). Individually, the Sooners’ Will Kropp shot a 65 (-6) to hold the individual lead, with Memphis’ Jack Belote (-5) and Western Carolina’s Ryan Booth (-4) close behind.

The Gamecocks will be paired with Vanderbilt and Davidson for Saturday’s second round, which gets underway for Carolina at 9:50 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available via golfstatresults.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T6. Blaine Woodruff – 69 (-2)
T16. Wesley Bryan – 71 (E)
T28. Caulder Moore – 72 (+1)
T38. Dean Hester – 73 (+2)
T48. Logan Harrell – 74 (+3)