May 31, 2015

BRADENTON, Fla. — The third round of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship has been suspended due to lightning on Sunday at The Concession Golf Club.

Nine teams were still on the course when play was halted. Sixth-ranked South Carolina finished its round in the morning and delivered its best performance of the championship, shooting an even-par 288. By the time play was suspended during the afternoon wave, the Gamecocks had moved into a tie for 12th place with a total of 887 (+23). Carolina is in solid position to make the cut to 15 teams for the fourth round of stroke play. Oklahoma State (+32), Charlotte (+33) and Oregon (+35) are the only teams on the leaderboard behind the Gamecocks that still have holes left to play in the third round.

Play will resume on Monday at 7 a.m. The fourth round will start 30-45 minutes after the conclusion of the third round but no earlier than 10 a.m. The Golf Channel will carry live coverage of the fourth round from 12:30-4:30 p.m. The top eight teams at the conclusion of the fourth round will advance to match play.

Georgia currently leads the tournament at 1-over with one to four holes remaining in the third round. Southern California (+4), Illinois (+7), LSU (+7), Vanderbilt (+7), Texas (+12), South Florida (+13), UCLA (+14) and Georgia Tech (+14) round out the top eight. Individually, SMU’s Bryson Dechambeau leads with a total of 209 (-7).

All four Gamecocks whose score counted on Sunday shot 74 or better. Junior Will Starke led the way with his second-straight round under par, firing a 2-under 70 to move into a tie for 31st with a total of 219 (+3). He played steady early on, recording four-straight pars after a birdie on No. 3, but back-to-back bogeys on holes eight and nine left him at 1-over at the turn. However, he played his best golf on the back nine, shooting a bogey-free 33 (-3) to finish his day at 2-under.

Junior Sean Kelly also finished the day under par, posting his second 71 (-1) of the tournament. He enters the final round tied for 74th with a total of 225 (+9). A native of Staten Island, N.Y., Kelly played his first 14 holes in 3-under without a bogey before recording bogeys on two of his final four holes.

Junior Matt NeSmith tallied a team-best five birdies on the day but was unable to finish in red numbers because of a pair of bogeys and double bogeys as he was able to grind out a 1-over 73. He finished the round tied for 31st with a total of 219 (+3).

Senior Caleb Sturgeon played his best round of the championship as he carded a 2-over 74, recording two birdies and four bogeys, to move into a tie for 86th with a total of 227 (+11). Rounding out the lineup, senior Will Murphy shot a 78 and will enter Monday’s round tied for 151st with a total of 241 (+25).

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTST31. Matt NeSmith (1)           74-72-73=219 (+3)T31. Will Starke (2)     78-71-70=219 (+3)T74. Sean Kelly (3)       71-83-71=225 (+9)T86. Caleb Sturgeon (5)       78-75-74=227 (+11)T151. Will Murphy (4)        83-80-78=241 (+25)