No. 10/12 UF Men's Golf Opens Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational In Sixth Place

Friday, March 14

Statesboro, GA

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

Chris Schenkel Invitational

No. 10/12 UF Men's Golf Opens Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational In Sixth Place

Saturday, March 15, 2008 | Men's Golf

Senior Tyler Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) posted a 2-under score of 70 on Friday to position the No. 10/12 University of Florida men's golf team in sixth place after the first day of play at the Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club.

The Gators finished at 2-over 290 on Friday and sit eight shots back of first-round leader Tennessee, who is at 6-under 282 overall. The Vols hold a three-shot advantage on No. 1/2 Alabama. South Carolina and UAB are tied for third with 2-under 286s. LSU is the fifth team in red figures behind a 1-under 287.

Three players are tied for first. South Carolina's Mark Anderson, LSU's Clayton Rotz and UAB's Zach Sucher all posted 4-under scores of 68.

Brown's 2-under tally matched his season-low round by par on the season. He fired a 2-under 68 in the first round of the SunTrust Gator Invitational on Feb. 9. The senior is in a five-way tie for seventh place and is seeking his second top-10 finish of the year.

Brown got off to a stellar start with four birdies on his front nine scorecard. Sitting at even par through four holes, Brown rolled in back-to-back birdies at the par-4 fifth and the par-3 sixth. His 2-under front nine was followed up by a steady back nine that featured seven pars.

Senior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) and junior Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) are tied for 16th after a pair of even-par 72s. Horschel opened with a bogey on the par-4 first bit gathered some momentum before making the turn. Birdies at No. 7 and No. 9 put him at 1-under overall, but Horschel played his last nine holes at 1-over following bogeys on No. 13 and No. 16.

Villegas carded a pair of 36s on his nines. He was the second Gator to record consecutive birdies on holes five and six. He played his first five holes on the back nine at even par, counted a bogey on the par-3 15th and birdied the par-4 17th.

Sophomore Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.), who returned to the lineup this weekend, shot a 4-over 76 to open the tournament in a tie for 57th. Alexander avoided trouble on his front nine with nine straight pars. However, the sophomore closed with a 40 that began with a double bogey on the par-4 10th hole.

Junior Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.) opened with a 6-over 78. Strickler, who sits in 76th place, managed one birdie to five bogeys and a double bogey on the par-5 seventh hole.

Saturday's second round begins at 9 a.m. ET. Florida's tee times get underway at 9:45 a.m. ET and follow in nine-minute intervals. Live scoring can be found at www.Golfstat.com.

Team Scores After Day 1

Place	School	Score
1.	Tennessee	282 (-6)
2.	Alabama	285 (-3)
T3.	South Carolina	286 (-2)
T3.	UAB	286 (-2)
5.	LSU	287 (-1)
6.	Florida	290 (+2)
7.	Kentucky	294 (+6)
T8.	Augusta State	295 (+7)
T8.	Michigan State	295 (+7)
T10.	Auburn	296 (+8)
T10.	North Carolina State	296 (+8)
12.	Notre Dame	297 (+9)
13.	North Carolina	298 (+10)
14.	Georgia Southern	301 (+13)
15.	North Florida	303 (+15)
16.	New Mexico	304 (+16)
17.	Minnesota	305 (+17)
18.	Boston College	318 (+30)

Individual Top 10 After Day 1

Place	Player (School)	Score
T1.	Mark Anderson (South Carolina)	68 (-4)
T1.	Clayton Rotz (LSU)	68 (-4)
T1.	Zach Sucher (UAB)	68 (-4)
T4.	Michael Thompson (Alabama)	69 (-3)
T4.	Stewart Whitt (Alabama)	69 (-3)
T4.	Robin Wingardh (Tennessee)	69 (-3)
T7.	Tyler Brown (Florida)	70 (-2)
T7.	Patrick Cunning (South Carolina)	70 (-2)
T7.	Matt Hill (North Carolina State)	70 (-2)
T7.	Chris Paisley (Tennessee)	70 (-1)
T7.	Brad Smith (UAB)	70 (-2)