MADISON, Miss. – Georgia Southern played its final five holes of the day 7-under-par, and its four counters shot under par for the round as the Eagles vaulted five places up the leaderboard into first place on day two of the Sun Belt Men's Golf Championship Tuesday at Annandale Golf Club.
The Eagles' 280 was the second lowest round of the day, and GS (-3) leads the tournament by five strokes over Louisiana (+2). Troy (+4) is in third place, a stroke ahead of Southern Miss (+5), Texas State and South Alabama, which are in a three-way tie for fourth. The top four teams following tomorrow's final stroke-play round advance to match play on Thursday.
Mason Williams shot a 68, tied for the second-lowest score of the day, to lead the Eagles and is tied for third with teammate
Ben Carr and Louisiana's Eli Ortego at 3-under. Troy sophomore Brantley Scott is the leader at 6-under-par, and Coastal Carolina's Seth Taylor is one shot back.
Carr backed up his 70 Monday with a 71 today, while
Parker Claxton shot a 70 and
Wilson Andress recorded a 71.
The Eagles began today's round on the back nine, and Williams played his first 12 holes 3-under with birdies on 11, 16 and 3. After a bogey on 4, the fifth-year senior made birdie at 5 and 7.
Claxton finished with a flurry, rolling in birdies on four of his last five holes to shot 33 on the front, while Andress was clean on the back nine with a birdie on 15 and shot an even-par 36 on the front.
Carr recovered from a nervy start that saw him go 4-over through his first four holes. The fifth-year senior played clean the rest of the day with five birdies on his last 12 holes of the round.
The Eagles are leading the tournament in par-3 scoring at 2-over-par and in birdies with 34.
Scores
Team – 293-280=573 (-3), 1
Ben Carr – 70-71=141 (-3), T3
Mason Williams – 73-68=141 (-3), T3
Parker Claxton – 74-70=144 (E), T13
Wilson Andress – 77-71=148 (+4), T30
Brantley Baker – 76-73=149 (+5), T38
Next up
The Eagles are paired with Louisiana and Troy and will tee off the first hole at 9:30 a.m. ET in Wednesday's third round.