Curran shoots two-under 69 Friday

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Vanderbilt junior Jon Curran shot a two-under 69 on Friday to move up to 49th place after the second round of the NCAA East Regional at the Council Fire Golf Club.

Curran birdied two, 13 and 14 before a bogey on 16 brought him back to two-under for the day. His two-day total of one-over 143 stands in a 14-way tie for 49th place in the field of 141 golfers.

After a final 18 holes on Saturday, the top 10 teams and two individuals not on those teams will advance to the NCAA National Championship, to be played at the end of the month at Purdue University’s Kampen Course. UAB’s Zach Sucher shot a nine-under 62 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead over Georgia’s Hudson Swafford.

The Bulldogs hold a 19-stroke lead over Augusta State after 36 holes. Auburn, UC-Irvine and Mississippi State round out the top five. Among teams not in the Top 10, Western Carolina’s Matt Cook and Virginia Tech’s Jurrian van der Vaart — both at seven-under — are in position to advance as individuals.

Curran will tee off at 8:53 a.m. ET for Saturday’s final round. He will be grouped with Johnny Caldwell of South Alabama and Grant Leaver of Austin Peay. Caldwell and Curran are tied as the low unattached players.