Oct. 22, 2007

WINDERMERE, Fla. – South Carolina men’s golf dropped two spots into ninth place after the second round in the talent-rich Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational. The No. 8 Gamecocks failed to post a single score under par as No. 5 Georgia surged into the team lead from eighth place.

Junior Patrick Cunning and sophomore George Bryan IV carded matching 73s for the team’s lowest score of the day. Cunning shaved two strokes off his first-round 73 behind three birdies. He is in 46th place heading into Tuesday’s final round. Bryan’s 73 moved him into 50th place but came via rollercoaster play. After opening with a birdie, he shot double bogey on three of the next four holes. A birdie on the par-5 seventh got him back to +4 on the front nine. Bryan continued to rally with four birdies on the back nine, which he finished at -3.

Junior Florian Fritsch continues to lead the Gamecocks in 15th place after a second-round 74. His play was steady throughout the round, making par on all but three holes. Only a double bogey on the 18th kept him from finishing the round at even par.

Matching Fritsch’s 74 on Monday, senior Mark Anderson is in 21st place with one round to play. Like Fritsch, trouble for Anderson came late in the round. An eagle on the par-5 13th to him to -1 for the round, but three bogeys on the last four holes took him up to +2.

Finishing the day with a 77, junior Allen Koon rallied on the back nine after a shaky front that included three bogeys and a triple bogey. Birdies on the 12th and 13th holes got him back on track, and par on the remaining six holes allowed him to shoot -1 after the turn. Koon fell to 65th in the individual standings.

The Bulldogs lead the event at -10 for the tournament with No. 14 Wake Forest four strokes back. In the individual race, Southern Cal’s Jamie Lovemark defended his share of the top spot with a second-round 70 after shooting 68 on Sunday. Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler’s 66 on Monday catapulted him from 23rd place into a share of first as well.

The tournament concludes with a final round on Tuesday.