No. 22 Northwestern Remains in 14th Place at Mercedes-Benz Championships
Feb. 9, 2004
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- With much improved weather conditions, Northwestern's 22nd-ranked men's golf team sliced 22 strokes off its first-day team score, but remained in 14th place at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships being held at Sawgrass Country Club. The Wildcats turned in the ninth-best round of the day, with senior Tom Johnson continuing to lead the 'Cats' efforts. He shot a 1-over 73 and is in 14th place, five strokes behind leaders Mark Blakefield (Kentucky), David Skinns (Tennessee) and Jake Thompson (South Carolina). South Carolina remains the team leader, holding a 13-stroke advantage over second-place Clemson. Northwestern is within eight strokes of ninth-place Texas. After opening with back-to-back bogeys, Johnson strung together four consecutive birdies on his fifth through eighth holes (the Wildcats started on the back nine at hole No. 10) to move to 2-under for the day. But a double bogey on hole number two and a bogey on seven dropped him back to 1-over for the second round. Johnson is 3-over (74-73=147). Junior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) fired the Wildcats' top round of the day, an even-par 72. He finished with 14 pars, two birdies and two bogeys. He is now in 31st place at 8-over (80-72=152). Senior Casey Strunk (Phoenix, Ariz./Thunderbird) remained in 59th place, despite a 3-over 75. He is 13-over (82-75=157) after two rounds. Senior T.C. Ford (Covington, La./Mandeville) is 66th (83-77=160) and sophomore Bryson Young (Reno, Nev./Galena) is 74th (83-79=162).
This is one of the nation's top collegiate golf tournaments this year, with 10 of the country's top 25 teams participating. All 18 teams are ranked in the top 70 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin poll.
Live Stats and latest results are available for the tournament by linking to Mercedes-Benz Championships. Additional information on the tournament can be found at UNF Golf. |
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