April 18, 2015

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ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Behind a 6-under 64 from junior Matt NeSmith, the South Carolina men’s golf team shot a 275 (-5) to finish the second round of the SEC Championship in a tie for third on Saturday at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course.

The Gamecocks are tied at 10-under with Vanderbilt and will head into the final round trailing Alabama by seven strokes. The Crimson Tide shot a 274 to remain atop the leaderboard with a 36-hole total of 543 (-17). LSU is in second place with a total of 546 (-14). Auburn is in fifth with a total of 551 (-9).

Individually, NeSmith put himself in position to become just the second Gamecock to win an SEC title as he holds a one-shot lead with a total of 129 (-11) after shooting the bogey-free 64, which is a school SEC Championship record. Alabama’s Robby Shelton is in second with a total of 130 (-10) after shooting a 65 (-5) for the second-straight day.

A native of North Augusta, S.C., NeSmith carded four-straight pars to start the day but then reeled off three-consecutive birdies on holes five, six and seven on his way to making the turn at 3-under. On the back nine, he tallied birdies on holes 11, 15 and 17 to get into the clubhouse at 6-under.

Senior Will Murphy posted a stellar round as well, shooting a 2-under 68 to finish the afternoon in a tie for 23rd with a total of 140 (E). Murphy moved to 1-under on the day with a birdie on the par-4 fifth but gave the shot right back with a bogey on No. 6. After recording three-straight pars to make the turn at even, he birdie two of his first three holes on the back nine to get to 2-under before making pars on his final six holes.

Junior Will Starke is also tied for 23rd with a total of 140 (E) after shooting a second-round 74 (+4). Junior Sean Kelly and senior Caleb Sturgeon are tied for 45th with a total of 144 (+4) after carding rounds of 71 and 72, respectively.

Round Changer
NeSmith set the school SEC Championship record with a 6-under 64. The round is his second-straight bogey-free round. Through 36 holes, NeSmith has tallied nine birdies, an eagle and 26 pars.

Notable
• Carolina’s round of 275 matches the school SEC Championship record, which was recorded in the first round on Friday.
• The Gamecocks have shot under par in 15 of their last 16 rounds.
• Carolina leads the field in par-5 scoring (4.55, -9).
• After the teams combined for six eagles in the first round, no eagles were made on Saturday.
• NeSmith’s 64 is a school SEC Championship record and also a career low.
• With a one-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round, NeSmith is in position to become just the second Gamecock to win an SEC title. Former Gamecock Eric Ecker won the rain-shortened SEC Championship in 1998 in Athens, Ga. with a 36-hole total of 136.
• NeSmith has shot six-straight rounds in the 60s.
• NeSmith has recorded two-straight bogey-free rounds.

Quotable
South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald
“Matt played an incredible round. His first and second rounds were just some really good golf with no bogeys. For the rest of the guys, it was a little bit like yesterday. They were not playing poorly, but everybody just wasn’t clicking at the same time. Caleb (Sturgeon) fought back and got his round in good order but didn’t finish like he wanted to. Will Murphy played well. Sean (Kelly) played a solid round. We are still in it. We are seven shots back, and I’m proud of the guys. They’ve fought hard to put us in position. Tomorrow should be a lot of fun.”

South Carolina Junior Matt NeSmith
“I played really well. I played a lot like yesterday. I made a lot of putts and hit a lot of good tee shots. When I missed it, I missed it in the correct spots, so it was really easy to score pretty well when I didn’t hit it in the perfect spots.”

On being bogey free through 36 holes
“Every time I’ve missed a shot it’s been in the correct spot. I’ve given myself a good chance to get up and down if I missed greens, and my lag putting has been pretty good if I didn’t hit it on the correct part of the green.”

Up Next
The Gamecocks will tee off in the final round on Sunday beginning at 8:20 a.m. and will be paired with Auburn and Arkansas. Live scoring will be available at golfstatresults.com.