Trojans Improve; Sixth Entering SBC Championships Final Round

Tuesday, April 23

Muscle Shoals, Ala.

TBA

Troy University

Sun Belt Conference Championship

Photo by: Cass Davis

Trojans Improve; Sixth Entering SBC Championships Final Round

4/23/2013 3:31:00 PM | Golf (M)

By: Brandon Lee

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – The Troy men's golf team shot a two-over, 290, on Tuesday in the second round of the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Men's Championships to hold a sixth-place standing entering Wednesday's final 18 holes from the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

The Trojans' 290 is the fourth-best low round score on the season as they finished with the day's third-best score behind Georgia State (E) and North Texas (-1). With just 18 holes remaining on Wednesday at the Fighting Joe Course, Troy will have little ground to make up as they sit just eight strokes off the lead in a tightly-contested top half of the standings.

Phillip Brennan led the charge on day two of the tournament with a two-under par, 70, to climb into the top-10 of the individual standings. Brennan had a balanced front nine with three bogeys and three birdies to make the turn at even-par. The sophomore would bogey the 10^th, before carding an eagle on the par-5 12^th, to get to one-under. A birdie on the 17^th pushed Brennan to two-under on the day, two-over overall, and tied for eighth entering Wednesday's finale.

Jake Tucker turned in another low round with a one-over, 73, to hold as Troy's top player after 36 holes of play. The sophomore birdied the first hole of the day, before dropping a double-bogey on the second and bogey on the third to drop to two-over. Two birdies on the remaining front nine, plus two bogeys and a birdie on the final nine holes pushed Tucker to one-over on the day, one-over overall, seventh entering the final 18 holes on Wednesday, just four strokes off the lead.

Kyle Thommesen, Troy's No. 4 player, turned in Troy's second-lowest round on Tuesday with a one-over, 73. The junior birdied his first hole on the day, before dropping just two bogeys over the remaining 17 holes to finish at one-over par. Thommesen will head into Wednesday tied for 16^th at four-over, 148, overall.

Tolver Dozier improved his scores from a day ago with a two-over, 74, to finish the round tied for 24^th. Dozier dropped five bogeys and two birdies on the day to finish the round at 74, and enter Wednesday at six-over, 150, overall, within the top-25 of the individual standings.

Wil Clowdus matched his Monday score on Tuesday with a nine-over, 81, to enter the final round in 51^st.

Georgia State used a two-under par, 286, to charge to the No. 1 spot on Tuesday and will take just a one stroke lead into Wednesday ahead of No. 38 North Texas at six-over, overall. North Texas' Rodolfo Cazaubon carded a four-under, 68, to jump to the No. 1 spot in the individual standings and leads the field of 55 competitors by just one stroke.

Troy will tee-off first at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning with Clowdus scheduled to tee-off in the first group. Live scoring will be available through GolfStat.com

For more information on Troy Athletics, visit TroyTrojans.com. Fans can also find Troy on Twitter at @TroyAthletics, Troy Golf @TroyTrojansGolf, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/TroyAthletics.

Team Standings:
1. Georgia State (295-286-581) +5; 2. North Texas (295-287-582) +6; 3. South Alabama (284-300-584) +8; 4. Middle Tennessee (295-290-585) +9; 5. UALR (293-294-587) +11; 6. Troy (299-290-589) +13; 7. Louisiana-Lafayette (303-294-597) +21; 8. Arkansas State (300-305-605) +29; 9. Western Kentucky (306-302-608) +32; 10. ULM (306-310-616) +40; 11. Florida Atlantic (310-312-622) +46

Top Individual Standings:
1. Rodolfo Cazaubon (North Texas) 72-69-140 (-4); 2. Lucas Armstrong (Middle Tennessee) 69-72-141 (-3); 3. Lane Hulse (South Alabama) 68-74-142 (-2); 4. Nicklaus Benton (UALR) 70-73-143 (-1)
T5. Colby Benton (UALR) 73-71-144 (E); T5. Grant Cagle (Georgia State) 74-70-144 (E)

Troy Individuals:
7. Jake Tucker (72-73-145) +1; T8. Phillip Brennan (76-70-146) +2; T16. Kyle Thommesen (75-73-148) +4; T24. Tolver Dozier (76-74-150) +6; 51. Wil Clowdus (81-81-162) +18;