Bulls in the Title Hunt After 36 Holes at Gators Invitational
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla., FEB. 16, 2019 – Facing a tough field on a challenging 36-hole day, USF grabbed a share of the early lead before battling its way to a third-place position in Saturday's opening action at the Florida Gators Invitational.
USF started its first team tournament of the spring in stride with a 3-under 277 in the opening round that had the Bulls in a tie for the lead with No. 19 North Florida. USF (+3) finished the day six shots away from leader and third-ranked Vanderbilt at Mark Bostick Golf Course (par 70, 6,701 yards). Only the Commodores wrapped up the second round with an under-par total score in the talented 15-team field that features seven top-50 programs.
Albin Bergstrom is two shots off the individual lead at 5-under after opening with a bogeyless 3-under 67 in the first round. The freshman from Ljunghusen, Sweden finished strong with a 2-under 68 and he's tied for fourth in the 86-player field with nine total birdies.
Kyle Flexsenhar also helped the Bulls jump out to a fast start by firing a 2-under 68 in the first round. The junior from Lake Mary, Fla., is tied for 11
th place at even par and two shots outside the top five.
Luke Gifford gave the Bulls a big boost in the second round by shooting par or better on 17 holes and carding an even-par 70. The freshman from Boca Raton, Fla., is one shot away from the top 20 at 3-over.
Ryoto Furuya is two shots behind Gifford after shooting a 1-under 69 in the opening round. Furuya, a junior from Alpharetta, Ga., has placed in the top 25 in each of his first four events as a Bull.
USF Lineup Scores
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Quotable
Head coach Steve Bradley's thoughts on the Bulls' performance Saturday and Sunday's final round:
"Overall, I'm pretty pleased with our position in the final group. We've given ourselves an opportunity with a good round tomorrow to possibly win. That's all you can ask going into it – having that opportunity."
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"If you look at the stats, the golf course played extremely difficult today, especially this afternoon. The scoring average was 72.7 on a par-70. It was not an easy test of golf today and I'm proud of their effort."
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Up Next
Freshman
Massimo Mbetse will lead off USF's final round from the first hole Sunday at 9:30 a.m. Follow the action in progress at the official Golfstat.com scoring page
HERE.
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About USF Men's Golf
USF men's golf has captured the past four American Athletic Conference Championship titles in wire-to-wire fashion and made six straight trips to NCAA Regionals. The program is led by Steve Bradley, who has earned American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors the past four seasons. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
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