March 19, 2010

STATESBORO, Ga. – On a day where few players or teams in the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational field found separation from the pack, South Carolina’s Paul Woodbury broke par for the third time in four rounds as he led the Gamecocks with a 1-under-par 71 on Friday.

Woodbury is part of a group of 11 players tied for ninth place after opening rounds of 71 at Forest Heights Country Club. The Gamecocks are in 10th place as a team after a round of 293 (+5), but the teams are tightly grouped – the top 10 are separated by only eight strokes after 18 holes of play.

The senior from Lake City, S.C., continues to play the best golf of his collegiate career, keeping with the momentum from last week’s medalist performance at the Seminole Intercollegiate. Woodbury carded birdies at the fifth and seventh holes to get to 2-under, and made the turn at 1-under after a bogey at No. 8. He dropped another shot at the 11th to fall back to even par, but he was bogey-free over his final seven holes and carded a birdie at the par-4 16th to finish in red numbers.

Sophomore Wesley Bryan is just one shot back of Woodbury in a 10-way tie for 20th place at even par. Bryan went 35-37=72 in the opening round, his eighth of the season at par or better, but it was an adventure all day. Bryan had only two pars on the front nine to go along with four birdies and three bogeys, making the turn at 1-under. A birdie at the 12th got him to 2-under, but he would drop shots at the 15th and 17th to finish even.

George Bryan IV, runner-up at last year’s Schenkel, posted an opening round of 2-over-par 74. He made the turn at 2-under after a bogey-free front nine, but a double-bogey at the 10th along with three more bogeys (and one birdie) dropped him to 2-over. Bryan IV is tied for 36th place through 18 holes. Fellow senior Patrick Rada is two shots back of Bryan IV after an opening 76 (+4), tied for 62nd place, and Clint Tolleson shot 77 (+5).

North Florida shot 285 (-3) on Friday to take the 18-hole lead, followed by Virginia (-2) and Ole Miss (-1). Virginia’s Will Collins holds the individual lead with a 68 (-4), with UNF’s J.C. Horne and Florida’s Bank Vongvanij one shot back at minus-3.

The Gamecocks will look to move up the leaderboard in Saturday’s second round as they will be paired with SEC foes Florida and Kentucky, with their tee times beginning at 9:45 a.m. on the No. 10 tee. Live results are available through Golfstat.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T9. Paul Woodbury – 71 (-1)
T20. Wesley Bryan – 72 (E)
T36. George Bryan IV – 74 (+2)
T62. Patrick Rada – 76 (+4)
T68. Clint Tolleson – 77 (+5)