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Clemson Opens Play in Ping/Golfweek Preview Sunday

Clemson Opens Play in Ping/Golfweek Preview Sunday

Sept. 26, 2008

Clemson, SC — Clemson’s sixth-ranked golf team will open play in the Ping/Golfweek Preview at Inverness Club in Toledo, OH on Sunday. The 54-hole event that will be the played at the site of four past US Opens will run Sunday through Tuesday. The 15-team tournament is regarded as the top event on the fall college golf schedule, as 11 of the top 13 teams in the nation will be in the field.

Clemson will be joined by second-ranked Southern California, third-ranked Oklahoma State, fourth-ranked Georgia and seventh-ranked Florida among others. Top ranked UCLA and fifth-ranked Stanford are the only two teams out of the top 13 in nation missing from the field.

Clemson will play with Florida and Florida State in the opening round with tee times from 12:50 PM to 1:30 PM on Sunday starting from the 10th tee. The event is called “The Preview” because it is played at the site of the 2009 NCAA Championships, which will be held May 26-30 this year at Inverness, a par 71 course that is 7,255 yards in length.

The Tigers have been among the most successful teams at the Preview over the years. Clemson won the tournament in the fall of 1990 behind individual champion Nicky Goetze, and in 2001 when D.J. Trahan made a birdie on the final hole to give the Tigers a one shot win at Ohio State. Goetze won the event twice, the only Clemson golfer to win the Preview. He won the 1990 tournament by four shots over Phil Mickelson, then at Arizona State and again in the fall of 1992.

Clemson has played in the Preview 17 previous years and has 10 top five finishes, the second most top fives in the event’s history behind Oklahoma State’s 12. Oklahoma State is the only school to play in all 19 previous tournaments.

Clemson will bring one senior, three juniors and a freshman to The Preview this weekend. Leading the way will be Kyle Stanley, the junior from Gig Harbor, WA who got his season off to a great start with a victory at the Carpet Classic in Dalton, GA two weeks ago. He won the tournament with a 208 score, a five-shot victory that tied a Clemson record for victory margin by an individual in any tournament.

David May was Clemson’s second best golfer at the Carpet Classic, where the Tigers finished fourth of 18 teams. May, the only senior in Clemson’s lineup this week, had a 221 total including two rounds at par or better. The native of Auburn, NY has been a starter for four years, including two years the Tigers ranked in the top seven in the nation.

Sam Saunders and Ben Martin will be two juniors in the Clemson lineup this weekend. Saunders, who was an all-region selection last year when he helped the Tigers to a number five national finish, shot a 223 in the opening tournament. Martin, who is a two-time first-team academic All-ACC selection, will play in his first tournament of the year this weekend.

Freshman Phillip Mollica to gain the fifth spot in the Clemson lineup this week. The freshman shot a 225 at the Carpet Classic in his first career tournament.

Results of the Preview will be available on golfstat.com.

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