USF Athletics

Bulls Build Five-Shot Lead on Day 1 of The American Championship

April 22, 2018

TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
 

By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

PALM HARBOR, Fla., APRIL 22, 2018 – No. 21 USF began the pursuit of its fourth straight league title by building a five-shot lead in the opening round of the American Athletic Conference Championship.

USF (E) was the lone program in the 10-team field to shoot par or better Sunday at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club's Copperhead Course (par 71, 7,125 yards). Head coach Steve Bradley's Bulls have led in each of the past 10 rounds at the conference championship after posting wire-to-wire wins at the event the last three seasons.

USF registered an even-par 284 thanks to Claudio Correa, Cristian DiMarco, Priyanshu Singh and Jimmy Jones all carding a 71 to start in a tie for second place. Cincinnati's Davis Baxter has the individual lead after carding a 1-under 70.

Correa got to even par by shooting 1-under on the back nine. The senior from Santiago, Chile collected his fourth birdie of the day by sinking a putt from about 40 yards out on the 18^th hole.

Singh, a senior from Delhi, India, led the Bulls with five birdies, including three during his 1-under run on the front nine.

DiMarco, a senior from Longwood, Fla., shot even par on both sides of the course while Jones, a senior from Tampa, went 1-under on the front nine.

USF Scores

1	South Florida	284	284
T2	Claudio Correa (1)	71	71
T2	Cristian DiMarco (2)	71	71
T2	Priyanshu Singh (4)	71	71
T2	Jimmy Jones (5)	71	71
T30	Kyle Flexsenhar (3)	75	75

 
Quotable
Head coach Steve Bradley on his lineup's performance in the opening round:
"It was a tough day with the wind up and I think the hole locations were more difficult than they were last year. For us to have four guys shooting even par and the low score being 1-under individually for the tournament, our guys played pretty solid."

"For us to get a lead is important. It gives you a little bit of confidence and leeway for tomorrow. All in all, I don't think they felt like they played very good. For me, that's encouraging because they all felt like they probably shot as high as they could shoot."

Bradley on the Bulls' mindset heading into Monday's second round, which could include plenty of rain and wind:
"We're going to have some weather tomorrow and we don't know what that's going to end up doing to the golf course, or if our round is going to kind of get chopped up because of weather delays or anything like that. I'd rather have a lead than be behind, that's for sure."

"I don't think you tell them a whole lot. I think we've got to be patient and take what the weather gives us. We dealt with rain at our home event and we've had some wind at our last three events. What we'll see tomorrow is something we've seen relatively recently and because of those things we've gone through and those preparations, I expect we'll be able to handle ourselves pretty well with whatever happens."
 
Notables

• USF is tied for the top par-4 team scoring average (4.09, +4) and is tied for second in the field with 56 total pars.
• Priyanshu Singh is tied for the tournament lead with five total birdies.
• Cristian DiMarco is tied for the best scoring average on par-4 holes (3.89, -1).

 
Up Next
Kyle Flexsenhar will lead off USF's second round from the first hole Monday at 8:55 a.m. Follow the action in progress at the official Golfstat.com 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.