Men's Golf in Third, Horschel in First at SEC Championship

Saturday, April 18

Sea Island, GA

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

SEC Championships

Men's Golf in Third, Horschel in First at SEC Championship

Saturday, April 18, 2009 | Men's Golf

Senior All-American Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) lit up the course again, shooting five-under par 67, and the University of Florida men's golf team sits in third place at the 2009 SEC Championship. Horschel is on top of the leader board, two shots ahead, at nine-under par 135 going into the final round at Frederica Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.

The Gators shot three-under par 285 and have a two-round total of 577 (+1). Georgia had another good round, shooting seven-under 281 to total 563 (-13) after two rounds. Arkansas is in second at three-under par 573 after 36 holes.

Horschel was on fire Saturday, making four birdies and no bogeys on the front nine and making the turn with a 32. He made three more birdies on the back nine, and finished with a 67 (-5). Horschel's 36-hole score of 135 (-9) is the best opening two rounds in recent history for a UF golfer at the SEC Championship.

“Today was a lot like yesterday,” said head coach Buddy Alexander. “We got off to a poor start, but Billy played really well again. We shot a little better today as a team, but we still have one guy playing up a storm and we're riding him.”

Senior Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.) battled back after a tough first round, shooting one-under 71 on Saturday. He bogeyed two of his first three holes, but played the remainder of his round at three-under. Strickler is tied for 24th with a two-day total of 148 (+4).

After a solid round on Friday, senior Toby Ragland (Jacksonville , Fla.) struggled on Saturday, finishing with a 76 (+4). He is tied for 21st at three-over 147 going into the final round.

Juniors Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) and Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) shot 73 (+1) and 74 (+2), respectively. Alexander was at three-over par at one point in his round, but birdied two of his final four holes and is tied for 34th at 149 (+5). McKenney is tied for 42nd at seven-over par 151.

“We're in tough spot to catch Georgia,” said Coach Alexander. “It might take a historic day to pass them, but we'll go out and try to play well and hope for the best.”

The final round will be played on Sunday, with the Gators teeing off at 8:50. Live scoring will be available online at www.golfstat.com.

TEAM RESULTS

	Team	Rounds		Total	To Par
	Team	1	2	Total	To Par
1	Georgia	282	281	563	-13
2	Arkansas	290	283	573	-3
3	FLORIDA	292	285	577	+1
4	South Carolina	293	286	579	+3
5	Kentucky	297	285	582	+6
6	Mississippi St.	293	290	583	+7
7	Vanderbilt	292	293	585	+9
8	Ole Miss	296	290	586	+10
9	Alabama	308	284	592	+16
10	LSU	301	294	595	+19
11	Tennessee	305	292	597	+21
12	Auburn	301	300	601	+25

INDIVIDUAL TOP-10

	Player	Team	Rounds		Total	To Par
	Player	Team	1	2	Total	To Par
1	Horschel, Billy	Florida	68	67	135	-9
2	Blann, Jordan	Kentucky	67	70	137	-7
T3	Sainz Jr., Carlos	Mississippi St.	71	68	139	-5
T3	Lingmerth, David	Arkansas	70	69	139	-5
5	Swafford, Hudson	Georgia	71	69	140	-4
T6	Silvers III, Mark	South Carolina	68	73	141	-3
T6	Mitchell, Adam	Georgia	72	69	141	-3
T8	Henley, Russell	Georgia	71	71	142	-2
T8	Harman, Brian	Georgia	70	72	142	-2
T8	Peterson, John	LSU	71	71	142	-2