WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Sophomore Jon Curran carded a career-best six-under 64 to jump from 29th to second after the second day of the 110th NCAA Men’s Golf Championships at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club.
Curran’s 64 marks the second-best round during team play in Commodore history. VU senior Luke List shot a 63 three years ago at the Hyatt/Dorado Beach Intercollegiate in Puerto Rico.
The Hopkinton, Mass., native stands only two strokes behind 36-hole leader Bronson LaCassie (eight-under) of Minnesota. Four players are tied for third at five-under.
As a team, the Commodores are tied for 13th position at nine-over after two days. The event will be cut from 30 to 15 teams following Friday’s third round.
Vanderbilt and South Carolina lead 15th-place Michigan State (10-over) by one stroke. Three teams are tied for 16th at 11-over, with three more squads tied for 19th at 12-over.
Stanford (seven-under) leads Minnesota (six-under) by one stroke with 36 holes to play. Coastal Carolina (two-under) is the only other team under-par. ETSU and Charlotte round out the top five.
Curran tied the low round of the event by sinking seven birdies against only one bogey. He played the back nine at four-under without a blemish, birdying his final two holes.
Freshman Hudson Johnson also turned in a solid round. Johnson knocked two strokes off his Wednesday score, carding a one-over 71 on Thursday. He is currently tied for 71st in the 156-player field.
Senior Luke List also sits at 71st. List stumbled out of the gate for the second straight day, double-bogeying the second hole. Two birdies on the back kept him at five-over for the day.
Junior Billy Whalen bounced back from a rough Wednesday round to take three strokes off his score. Whalen carded back-to-back birdies on the front side before doubling the 10th hole to eventually finish at five-over for the day.
Sophomore Tyler Matthews struggled on Thursday, shooting 79 on the afternoon. He played holes nine through 12 at seven-over.
Vanderbilt will tee of from the first hole at 7:35 a.m. CT Friday with South Carolina and Michigan State. The field will be cut to the 15 low teams prior to Saturday’s final round, and the Commodores are looking to make the cut for the first time in their third appearance at the NCAA Championships.
Live scoring of the entire event is available online at:
http://www.golfstatresults.com//public/index.cfm?tournament_id=962
Golfweek will also feature a live broadcast of the event on Friday and Saturday, available through the Golfstat web site above.
Teams – Top 20
1. Stanford -7
2. Minnesota -6
3. Coastal Carolina -2
4. ETSU E
5. Charlotte +2
T6. Georgia Tech +3
T6. UCLA +3
T8. Oklahoma State +6
T8. Texas +6
10. Alabama +7
T11. Georgia State +8
T11. Florida +8
T13. Vanderbilt +9
T13. South Carolina +9
15. Michigan State +10
T16. Georgia +11
T16. Tennessee +11
T16. Florida State +11
T19. Lamar +12
T19. North Carolina +12
T19. Duke +12
Individuals – Top Five Plus VU
1. Bronson LaCassie, Minnesota -8
2. Jon Curran, Vanderbilt -6
T3. Rob Grube, Stanford -5
T3. Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina -5
T3. Zach Sucher, UAB -5
T3. Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech -5
T76. Hudson Johnson, Vanderbilt +4
T76. Luke List, Vanderbilt +4
T139. Tyler Matthews, Vanderbilt +11
T150. Billy Whalen, Vanderbilt +13
