Flexsenhar, Bulls Build Leads on Day 1 of USF Invitational
PHOTO GALLERY
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, MARCH 12, 2018 –
Kyle Flexsenhar grabbed the individual lead while the No. 21 Bulls built a 22-shot advantage through 36 holes of the USF Invitational at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club on Monday.
Flexsenhar put himself in position for his first-career title by finishing the day at 2-under and one shot ahead of Southern Illinois' Peyton Wilhoit. Flexsenhar fired a career best 5-under 67 in the opening round, when the sophomore from Lake Mary, Fla., collected six of his seven total birdies on the day.
USF (+4) carded a 7-under 281 in rainy first-round conditions and pulled away from the field in the afternoon while battling 20-plus mph wind gusts.
All five players in the lineup finished the day in the top 12 with
Claudio Correa staying in close range of the lead. The senior from Santiago, Chile used four birdies to card a 2-under 70 in the morning and wrapped up the second round in third place at even par.
Priyanshu Singh collected five birdies and matched Correa's 2-under 70 in the opening round. Singh, a senior from Delhi, India, finished the day in fourth place at 1-over.
Cristian DiMarco (Longwood, Fla.) is tied for eighth at 6-over while fellow senior
Jimmy Jones (Tampa) is tied for 12
th at 7-over heading into Tuesday's final round.
USF Scores
Quotable
Assistant coach Brad Caldwell on Kyle Flexsenhar's tournament-leading performance:
"It's been fun to watch him progress over this last couple years. His best round was by far today. Even in the afternoon, he didn't finish as well as he wanted, but the course was playing so difficult. I just really think he's gaining confidence each and every week he plays. He's seeing the results and he's starting to come into his own."
Caldwell on the team battling tough weather conditions to grab the tournament lead:
"You've got a course we're fairly comfortable on and we didn't see any comfortable conditions today. It was raining early and it was blowing 20-plus mph in the afternoon round, so it didn't play like they're used to. I saw everybody battle all that and take it pretty positively. We've had other events where we faced the elements and we let emotions get in our way. They battled on every shot and I think that speaks to our growth as a team."
Caldwell on the Bulls' approach heading into the final round:
"When you do have a lead, typically what worked for me as a player and in a coaching sense is you give yourself a goal going into it. You're not thinking about what you've done, or the lead, or anything like that. You're thinking about what you want to achieve tomorrow, as far as a number. I think everybody gives themselves a number they want to shoot and if everybody does their job, we accomplish a team win as a goal."
Up Next
Tuesday's final round begins with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start. Follow the action in progress at the official Golfstat scoring page
HERE.
About USF Men's Golf
USF men's golf returns six players from the 2016-17 team that captured the program's third consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship title. Head coach Steve Bradley has been at the helm for all three league championship runs and guided the Bulls back to the final rounds of the NCAA Championship in 2016. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
