Clemson, SC—Sophomore Thomas Higgins shot a one-under-par 69 on Friday to lead the Clemson men’s golf team at The Goodwin, a 31-team golf tournament at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California.
Clemson entered the second round in ninth place and remained in that position through two rounds. The tournament concludes on Saturday with the 31 teams playing 18 holes on the course that was the site of the 2020 PGA Championship. It is the largest field in college golf.
Clemson is in a tie with UCLA for ninth place as a team with a 13 over par score of 573. Clemson shot a team score of 285 in the first round and 288 in the second round. The Tigers are 10 shots out of the team lead of three-over-par 563 by Utah. The field includes nine teams from the Pac 12 conference, including host school Stanford.
Higgins, a native of Ireland, had an opening 72, then shot 69 on Friday to stand at 141 for the first 36 holes, good enough for 18th place. He had a team best five birdies and four bogeys in recording the only round in the 60s by a Tigers in round two.
Jonathan Nielsen had the first round lead with a four under par 66, but he shot a four over par 74 on Friday and he stands as the best Tiger for the first 36 holes with a 140 score, good enough for 12th place in the medalist race among the 168 players in the field. Nielsen is still just four shots off the individual lead of 136 by Ben Van Wyk of Georgia, who shot a 67 on Friday.
Andrew Swanson had the second best score in round two among Clemson golfers. The junior from Bluffton, SC made a six-shot improvement over his first round with his second round 72 that included four birdies.
Alberto Dominguez shot a 73 in the second round and combined with his opening 71, stands in 43rd place with a 144 total through 36 holes.
Sophomore Austin Scott, who is playing in the Clemson lineup for the first time in his career, had a 79 in the second round and was Clemson’s non-counter.
Live scoring will be available on golf stat.com.
