Thursday, April 26
St. Simons Island, GA
ALL DAY
Florida Gators
vs
SEC Championship
Gators move into match play position on day two of SECs
Thursday, April 26, 2018 | Men's Golf
Florida posts 2-under second round to jump up four spots on the leaderboard
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -- The Gators enter the final day of stroke play in match play position as the Gators jumped up four spots on the leaderboard.
Florida was one of just four teams to card a round under par Thursday boosting them into eighth place. The Gators were one of the first teams off in the morning and took advantage of scorable conditions.
In total, they poured in 16 birdies on the day to help improve their team score by 15 strokes from day one. Florida was also able to minimize its mistakes on day two as four players finished even par or better, the only team in the field to do so.
Once again, the Gators were paced by Andy Zhang who shot a team best 70 (-2) boosting him 11 spots into a tie for seventh. Zhang will enter the final day four shots off leader Cecil Wegener of Ole Miss.
In front of him on the course, John Axelsen, Gordon Neale and Alejandro Tosti all fired even par rounds. All three moved up at least 10 spots on the leaderboard with Tosti making the biggest leap of 17 spots.
Entering the final three holes, Axelsen was two-over for his round but, brought it in with birdie-birdie-par to bring him back to even par.
Florida will be apart of the first groups to go off tomorrow as it is paired with Tennessee and Georgia with the first tee time set for 7:30 a.m. from Sea Island Golf Club.
Coach's Take
On making improvements in day two -- "They are determined. They are really good players and I know they don't want the SEC year to end like that. Today was a nice step and we still have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Hopefully, it is going to be a long week for us, but today was a great first step" -- Coach JC Deacon
On good scores coming in -- "Championship teams have to finish rounds off. We did that today. John with those two birdies in the last three holes, Gordon was one-under in his last three, Andy was at least even and Tosti played solid. That's what you have to have and that's what we expect from them. I'm really happy. Today was a good step and we'll have to have a good afternoon of preparation and be ready to go again tomorrow morning." -- Coach JC Deacon
On the play of Andy Zhang -- "It's been a trend for him. He has been getting in contention pretty much every week now. It has been a few in a row and that's what we need out of him and what he expects. That's what his work ethic deserves and it's nice to see the results happening for him. Hopefully, tomorrow is his day." -- Coach JC Deacon
On heading into tomorrow -- "We just have to have a good afternoon of prep and rest up. Great players find a way to play well on the biggest days and we have a bunch of great players." -- Coach JC Deacon
Final Scores:
Team
Florida Individual
Follow the Action
Stroke play will conclude on Friday, April 27th. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. A complete recap with full results will be posted on FloridaGators.com following each day's play.
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Florida was one of just four teams to card a round under par Thursday boosting them into eighth place. The Gators were one of the first teams off in the morning and took advantage of scorable conditions.
In total, they poured in 16 birdies on the day to help improve their team score by 15 strokes from day one. Florida was also able to minimize its mistakes on day two as four players finished even par or better, the only team in the field to do so.
Once again, the Gators were paced by Andy Zhang who shot a team best 70 (-2) boosting him 11 spots into a tie for seventh. Zhang will enter the final day four shots off leader Cecil Wegener of Ole Miss.
In front of him on the course, John Axelsen, Gordon Neale and Alejandro Tosti all fired even par rounds. All three moved up at least 10 spots on the leaderboard with Tosti making the biggest leap of 17 spots.
Entering the final three holes, Axelsen was two-over for his round but, brought it in with birdie-birdie-par to bring him back to even par.
Florida will be apart of the first groups to go off tomorrow as it is paired with Tennessee and Georgia with the first tee time set for 7:30 a.m. from Sea Island Golf Club.
Coach's Take
On making improvements in day two -- "They are determined. They are really good players and I know they don't want the SEC year to end like that. Today was a nice step and we still have a lot of work to do tomorrow. Hopefully, it is going to be a long week for us, but today was a great first step" -- Coach JC Deacon
On good scores coming in -- "Championship teams have to finish rounds off. We did that today. John with those two birdies in the last three holes, Gordon was one-under in his last three, Andy was at least even and Tosti played solid. That's what you have to have and that's what we expect from them. I'm really happy. Today was a good step and we'll have to have a good afternoon of preparation and be ready to go again tomorrow morning." -- Coach JC Deacon
On the play of Andy Zhang -- "It's been a trend for him. He has been getting in contention pretty much every week now. It has been a few in a row and that's what we need out of him and what he expects. That's what his work ethic deserves and it's nice to see the results happening for him. Hopefully, tomorrow is his day." -- Coach JC Deacon
On heading into tomorrow -- "We just have to have a good afternoon of prep and rest up. Great players find a way to play well on the biggest days and we have a bunch of great players." -- Coach JC Deacon
Final Scores:
Team
| 1 | LSU | 557 (-3) |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 559 (-1) |
| 3 | Alabama | 563 (+3) |
| 4 | Ole Miss | 565 (+5) |
| 5 | Auburn | 566 (+6) |
| 6 | Kentucky | 569 (+9) |
| 7 | Tennessee | 570 (+10) |
| 8 | Florida | 571 (+11) |
| T9 | Texas A&M | 573 (+13) |
| T9 | Georgia | 573 (+13) |
| 11 | Arkansas | 574 (+14) |
| 12 | South Carolina | 575 (+15) |
| 13 | Mississippi State | 577 (+17) |
| 14 | Missouri | 583 (+23) |
Florida Individual
| T7 | 139 (-1) | |
| T18 | 142 (+2) | |
| Gordon Neale | T31 | 144 (+4) |
| T44 | 146 (+6) | |
| Chris Nido | 70 | 153 (+13) |
Follow the Action
Stroke play will conclude on Friday, April 27th. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. A complete recap with full results will be posted on FloridaGators.com following each day's play.
Follow the Gators
FloridaGators.com
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