May 18, 2007

TEMPE, Ariz. — The South Carolina men’s golf team followed Thursday’s outstanding start with an even better second-round performance Friday at the NCAA West Regional, played at Arizona State University’s Karsten Course in Tempe, Ariz. On the strength of three five-under par 67s, the Gamecocks posted the best team score of the day with a 269 (-19) and sit 34 strokes under par and one shot off leader UCLA. The final 18 holes of the regional are scheduled for Saturday and the top 10 finishers advance to the NCAA finals at the end of the month in Williamsburg, Va.

“I would not have expected this birdie barrage, but that’s what you have to do here,” Gamecock associate head coach Bill McDonald said. “That’s the mentality. We are used to par being a good score, but we’ve done a great job shifting gears. I’m so proud of them. Yesterday’s round was really good. I felt like if we could hang in there yesterday, we’d be an even better situation today since we teed off earlier and it’s a little cooler then. After yesterday’s performance, the guys came out even more fired up today.”

Sophomore Florian Fritsch and freshman George Bryan IV both tacked on a 67 after shooting 68 in the first round Thursday. The tandem owns a two-day total score of 135 (-9) and a share of seventh place. Junior Warren Thomas also carded a 67 in the second round. He has a total score of 141 (-3), good for a share of 50th. Junior Mark Anderson matched his opening round 68 to bring his score to 136 (-8) and tie for 12th. Fritsch, Bryan, Anderson and Thomas all recorded six birdies today.

Sophomore Mark Silvers posted a 73 (+1) Friday and sits at two-under par with a total score of 142. He is tied for 62nd heading into Saturday’s final round.

One day after recording its best team round of the season with a 273, the Gamecocks replaced the mark with today’s 269. Nine top-25 teams are participating in the NCAA West Regional. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 33 by Golfweek and No. 36 by Golf Stat entering the tournament.

“The strength of our conference and schedule has prepared us,” McDonald said. “We see great teams week in and week out and we’re not intimidated by anyone. Obviously, we haven’t played this well, but heading into the regional I kept talking about winning, not so much about advancing. Prepare to win and give yourself a chance. Our goal has been to win a tournament. We happen to be in the hunt in the postseason. The guys are not intimidated and haven’t acted that way.”

Arizona, Stanford and New Mexico are all 19 strokes under par and tied for eighth at the 10-team cut line heading into the final round.

Live scoring will be available again on Saturday at www.golfstat.com or by following the links on South Carolina’s official athletics web site at uscsports.com.

South Carolina Scores (Through Two Rounds)
T7 George Bryan IV 68-67=135 (-9)
T7 Florian Fritsch 68-6=135 (-9)
T12 Mark Anderson 68-68=136 (-8)
T50 Warren Thomas 74-67=141 (-3)
T62 Mark Silvers 69-73=142 (-2)

Team Standings (Through First Round)
1 UCLA -35 268-273=541
2 South Carolina -34 273-269=542
T3 Southern California -26 277-273=550
T3 Arizona State U. -26 275-275=550
T5 Washington -21 284-271=555
T5 East Tennessee St. -21 278-277=555
7 Oregon State U. -20 281-275=556
T8 Arizona -19 282-275=557
T8 Stanford University -19 277-280=557
T8 New Mexico -19 275-282=557
The top 10 teams advance to the Championship
(Ties will be resolved)
11 Vanderbilt -17 283-276=559
T12 California, U. of -14 280-282=562
T12 UNLV -14 281-281=562
T12 Pepperdine -14 277-285=562
T12 Wake Forest Univ. -14 285-277=562
16 Brigham Young Univ. -13 283-280=563
17 Colorado State Univ. -8 284-284=568
18 Augusta State -7 284-285=569
19 Oregon, U. of -3 292-281=573
T20 Denver, U. of -1 285-290=575
T20 Nevada, Univ. of -1 289-286=575
22 UC-Irvine +1 289-288=577
23 Pennsylvania, U. of +4 288-292=580
24 San Diego State +9 296-289=585
25 Detroit +18 297-297=594
26 Monmouth +21 302-295=597
27 Bucknell University +22 299-299=598