March 12, 2005

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Following second round action at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship in Las Vegas, South Carolina freshman Mark Anderson is in sole possession of first place and the No. 20 Gamecock men’s team sits tied for seventh. The tournament, played at the Southern Highlands Golf Club (Par 72, 7,150 yards) concludes on Sunday with the final 18 holes.

Anderson held a share of the lead heading into today and fired even par 72 Saturday. With a score of 138 (-6), the Beaufort, S.C., product holds a two-shot lead on defending national champion and No.1-ranked Ryan Moore (-4) of UNLV and second-ranked Spencer Lavin (-4) of New Mexico. Anderson’s co-leader on Friday, UCLA freshman Daniel Im, is in fourth place (-3).

Tournament host UNLV leads the team standings after shooting a seven-under par 281 on Saturday to move to one-under for the tournament (575).

Every team in the 15-team field is ranked among Golfweek’s top 25, including seven of the top 10 and the leading six teams.

The Gamecocks, who are tied with Florida, fired a 296 in the second round and sit at 586 (+8).

After shaving two strokes off his opening round score, Carolina senior Alex Hamiltonis four-over for the tournament and tied for 35th. Junior Eirik Johansen matched his 75 from Friday and is +6 and tied for 47th.

Junior Robert Svensson, who battled through a severe stomach virus Friday, shot a 76. He is seven-over and tied for 55th. Freshman Warren Thomas carded a six-over par 80 and is in a tie for 64th.

The Gamecocks tee off at 11 a.m. ET in Sunday’s final round. Live scoring is available online at www.golfstat.com and results will be available at www.USCsports.com following the conclusion of play.

SOUTH CAROLINA INDIVIDUAL SCORES
1 Mark Anderson 66-72 =138, -6
T35th Alex Hamilton 75-73 = 178, +4
T47th Eirik Johansen 75-75 = 150 +6
T55th Robert Svensson 75-76 = 151, +7
T64th Warren Thomas 74-80 = 154, +10

TEAM LEADERBOARD
Place, School, Score
1. UNLV, 294-281=575
T2. Oklahoma State, 292-284-576
T2. Arizona State, 288-288=576
4. Georgia, 296-281=577
T5. Wake Forest, 297-283=580
T5. Georgia Tech, 297-283=580
T7. South Carolina, 290-296=586
T7. Florida, 296-290=586
9. New Mexico, 303-289=592
10. UCLA, 290-303=593
T11. Washington, 293-303=596
T11. TCU, 300-296=596
13. Clemson, 300-297=599
14. Auburn, 299-300=599
15. Texas, 302-302=604