Golf Team Second Heading into Final Round

Feb. 9, 2004

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL-Clemson senior Gregg Jones fired career best tying 66 to lead Clemson to a 284 team score on Monday and a second-place ranking after two rounds of the North Florida Collegiate in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. The event is being played at the famed Sawgrass Country Club, a par 72 course that is 6955 yards in length.

Clemson stands in second place after two rounds in the 18-team field with a 590 team score, 13 strokes behind South Carolina, who has had consistent rounds of 288 and 289. Oklahoma State is third at 597, 21-over-par as a team and seven strokes behind Clemson. Clemson, South Carolina and Oklahoma State will be paired together for the final round of the 54-hole event on Tuesday. Clemson has a 17-2 record in head to head tournament competition with South Carolina the last four years and has had the higher finish in 13 consecutive events. Clemson and Oklahoma State ranked one-two at last year’s NCAA Championship.

Florida, ranked number-one in the polls after the fall, stands in fourth place at 599, while Tennessee is fifth at 602. Mark Blakefield of Kentucky, David Skinns of Tennessee and Jake Thompson of South Carolina are tied for the individual lead at two-under-par 142. Blakefield had the top round of that threesome with a 67 on Monday.

Jones moved from 25th to fourth with his 66 on Monday that included seven birdies and just one bogey. He has a two-day total of 143. It tied for the low round of his Clemson career and it was just the second time he had scored six-under-par for the Tigers. “I kept my drives in play and my iron game was on,” said Jones, a senior from Florence, SC who is the son of two Clemson graduates. “And I made some putts. I made a 25-footer on the second hole and that got me going.

“The conditions on Sunday were among the toughest I have played since I have been at Clemson. But the winds were much calmer today.”

Jones made four birdie putts of 12 feet or more, including the 25-footer on the second hole. He had three consecutive birdies on 11, 12 and 13 and finished with a tap in birdie on the 18th hole. He had six birdies in his last 12 holes and played the par five holes three-under for the day.

Supporting Jones’s fine day was junior Jack Ferguson of Seneca, SC, who had a two-under-par 70 in the second round. He fired a 33 on the front side and had six birdies overall. A double bogey on the par four 14th hole kept Ferguson out of the 60s. Ferguson stands in 10th place heading into the final round with a 146 total.

Matt Hendrix, Clemson’s low stroke average player in the fall, had a 73 on Monday and stands at five over par 149 heading into the final round. He had a fine 35 on the front nine, but had three bogeys on the back, including the 18th hole. Hendrix stands tied for 19th heading into the final round.

Brian Duncan had the comeback round of the day for the Tigers. The sophomore from Greenville, SC had an opening round 88, including a 10 on the par five 18th hole. But, he came back with a 75 on Monday and his score counted towards Clemson’s team total.

Brent Delahoussaye, a junior transfer from South Carolina, had a 76 on Monday and stands at 153 through two rounds.