Gamecocks in Fourth After First Round In West Lafayette
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (USC SID) — South Carolina is in solid position sitting in fourth place after round one of the NCAA West Lafayette Regional on Monday afternoon. The Gamecocks shot 291 (+3) and used a stellar back nine to climb up the leaderboard. Junior Keenan Huskey is T-4th at 3-under and sophomore Ryan Stachler is T-14th at even par.
Huskey, one of two veteran players returning from last year’s team that advanced to NCAA Match Play, began his day with a birdie on hole 10. He’d go on to post two more birdies on his front nine en route to shooting a 2-under 34. The Greenville, S.C., native, was tied for the lead at 5-under after carding birdies on holes four, six and seven in his back nine. His six total birdies in the first round tied for the field lead.
Stachler was unable to get things going in his first nine holes as he opened with a 4-over 40 on the backside of the course. The Alpharetta, Ga., native, bounced back in a huge way, carding a 4-under 32 on the front nine to finish the first round at even par. Stachler, who is making his NCAA debut, just missed a birdie putt on hole eight to push him to red numbers for the tournament.
Freshman Jamie Wilson is T-30th at 2-over. The Mount Pleasant, S.C., native, shot a 2-over 38 on the backside to begin the day then fired an even par 36 on the front nine. He matched Stachler with four birdies on the day. Wilson nearly holed a wedge shot from 120 yards when he spun the ball back right over the hole. He tapped in for birdie after the great approach. Sophomores Scott Stevens and Will Miles are both T-46th at 4-over. Stevens, a Second-Team All-SEC selection carded a pair of 38s, while Miles tallied a 3-over 39 on the back nine and a 1-over 37 on the front.
No. 17 UNLV is in first after day one, as the Rebels were the only team in the field to shoot under par at 1-under. It’s bunched at the top of the leaderboard as six teams sit at 4-over or better. John Oda of UNLV is in the individual lead after carding a 5-under 67 in the opening round.
