Florida Gators
NCAA Regionals
Villegas, Men's Golf 2nd Entering Final Round At Regionals
Friday, May 21, 2004 | Men's Golf
Senior Camilo Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) is in second after carding an even par 70 in helping No. 1 ranked Florida to second place by one stroke after the second round at the 2004 NCAA East Region Championships on Friday at Yale Golf Course.
Florida is one shot behind Penn State, which carded a five-over 285 in the second round for a two-day total of 575 (+15). The Gators started the day on the back nine and were 11-over after the first nine holes before rebounding to shoot a one-under 135 to close out the day. Villegas, sophomore Matt Every (Daytona, Beach, Fla.) and freshman Jessie Mudd (Louisville, Ky.) each were at even or under par on the second nine. Florida has a one-stroke lead over North Carolina (577) and a two-shot lead over Clemson (579) and Georgia Tech (579).
"We certainly didn't play well for the first nine holes, but this is a hard course," Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. "If you can play a stretch of holes at 2, 3 or 4 under, then you can get ahead because people will make bogeys. The second nine for us was huge and Jessie kind of turned our day around and kept us from having to count a high score. It looks like it's really going to be a dogfight tomorrow."
The top 10 teams from each of the three regionals along with the top two players from each regional not on an advancing team will play in the NCAA Championships June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va. Florida, looking to tie the school record for team wins in a season at eight, has advanced to NCAAs in 14 of the 15 seasons since regional play was adopted in 1989. The Gators haven't won a regional since 1992.
Wake Forest's Bill Haas leads the race for the individual title at three-under after an even par 70 left him at 137 (-3). Villegas is one shot behind in sole possession of second and is followed by Kenneth Fahey of Rhode Island (139).
Villegas sank three birdies in the second round as he posted his eighth even or under par round in 11 career rounds of regional competition. Scores were again high on the second day as Villegas was one of only 15 players in the field of 141 to finish at or below par. Villegas enters Saturday's final round with a chance to become the first two-time regional champion in school history as well as the first UF player to finish in the top 20 four times at regionals.
Every boosted his chances of claiming his 10th top-10 finish of the season and sixth in a row by firing a one-over 71 to sit in a tie for 19th at 143 (+3) – just one shot behind a group of 10 golfers tied for ninth at 142 (+2).
Sophomore James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) is three shots back of Every after a second round 74 (+2) left him in a tie for 38th at 146 (+6). Should Vargas creep into the top 20 after the final round, he would join Villegas as the only players in school history to post top-20 finishes as both a freshman and a sophomore at regionals.
Mudd notched a 75 (+5) in the second round and is tied for 60th at 149 (+9), while sophomore Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) shot a 79 (+9) and is in a tie for 110th at 155 (+15).
The final round of play begins on Saturday morning with the Florida set to tee off beginning at 7:12 a.m. Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com
TEAM STANDINGS
| Place | Team | 1st Round | 2nd Round | Total | Over/Under Par |
| 1. | Penn State | 290 | 285 | 575 | +15 |
| 2. | Florida | 286 | 290 | 576 | +16 |
| 3. | North Carolina | 294 | 283 | 577 | +17 |
| T4. | Clemson | 288 | 291 | 579 | +19 |
| T4. | Georgia Tech | 291 | 288 | 579 | +19 |
| T6. | Georgia | 287 | 293 | 580 | +20 |
| T6. | Auburn | 294 | 286 | 580 | +20 |
| 8. | Rhode Island | 292 | 289 | 581 | +21 |
| 9. | Wake Forest | 296 | 288 | 584 | +24 |
| T10. | Georgia State | 288 | 300 | 588 | +28 |
| T10. | Jacksonville State | 306 | 282 | 588 | +28 |
| T12. | Duke | 294 | 295 | 589 | +29 |
| T12. | Tennessee | 297 | 292 | 589 | +29 |
| T12. | N.C. State | 299 | 290 | 589 | +29 |
| 15. | Vanderbilt | 299 | 291 | 590 | +30 |
| 16. | South Carolina | 299 | 293 | 592 | +32 |
| 17. | Georgia Southern | 302 | 292 | 594 | +34 |
| T18. | LSU | 304 | 292 | 596 | +36 |
| T18. | Augusta State | 304 | 292 | 596 | +36 |
| 20. | UAB | 294 | 303 | 597 | +37 |
| 21. | Maryland | 306 | 298 | 604 | +44 |
| 22. | Binghamton | 312 | 297 | 609 | +49 |
| 23. | Towson | 310 | 300 | 610 | +50 |
| 24. | Georgetown | 304 | 307 | 611 | +51 |
| 25. | Yale | 311 | 302 | 613 | +53 |
| 26. | Army | 310 | 304 | 614 | +54 |
| 27. | Long Island | 321 | 313 | 634 | +74 |
FLORIDA RESULTS
| Place | Player | 1st Round | 2nd Round | Total | Over/Under Par |
| 2. | Camilo Villegas | 68 | 70 | 138 | -2 |
| T19. | Matt Every | 72 | 71 | 143 | +3 |
| T38. | James Vargas | 72 | 74 | 146 | +6 |
| T60. | Jessie Mudd | 74 | 75 | 149 | +9 |
| T110. | Brett Stegmaier | 76 | 79 | 155 | +15 |
