Clemson, SC—Colby Patton and Kyle Cottam had opening-round scores of 68, and Turk Pettit added a second-round 68 to lead Clemson to a seven-under-par team score of 569 and a second-place standing after 36 holes of the John Hayt Collegiate and famed Sawgrass County Club in Ponte Vedra, Fla.
The Tigers trail host school North Florida by just one shot. The Tigers are six shots ahead of number-one ranked Florida State and 18 shots ahead of third-ranked Wake Forest entering the final round. The 14-team tournament includes six of the top 26 teams in the nation, including 14th ranked Clemson.
Pettit stands in second place individually after 36 holes with a 138 score. He shot a 70 in the first round, then made birdie on three of his last four holes to shoot a 68 in the second round. He finished the first 36 holes with 10 birdies and an eagle. Pettit trails North Florida’s Nick Gabrelcik by a shot and is tied with Florida State’s John Pak. Gabrelcik is the number-four ranked player in the nation and Pak is the top player according to Golfstat. Pettit is ranked 20th nationally.
Kyle Cottam, who is not currently ranked among the top 100 players nationally, had rounds of 68-73 to stand in fourth place at 141. Patton stands in 11th place at 143 after rounds of 68-75.
Jacob Bridgeman, Clemson’s top player with a 68.67 stroke average entering the tournament, had the comeback round of the day. In his second round, he had two double bogeys on the front nine and finished with a 40. But the junior kept his focus and made four birdies and just one bogey on the back to shoot a 33 and finish with a 73. He stands at 147 through two rounds, good enough for 27th place.
William Nottingham had rounds of 76 and 75 and is at 151 through two rounds, 52nd place.
Clemson had the lead after the first round with a score of 280, eight-under-par, two shots ahead of 15th ranked Liberty. Patton and Cottam both had rounds of four-under-par 68 and Pettit shot a 70. Patton had five birdies and a bogey, while Cottam had four birdies in recording his first bogey-free round of the year. He birdied four of six holes while playing holes 8-13. Pettit made bogey on two of his first three holes, then was bogey-free the rest of his opening round.
Zack Gordon is playing the tournament as an individual and had rounds of 75-71. He stands in 20th place individually.
The tournament concludes on Monday with 18 holes. Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com.
