Thursday, April 25
Sea Island, Ga. (Sea Island GC)
All Day
Mississippi State
vs
SEC Championship (Stroke Play)
Johnson Leads Bulldogs in SEC Second Round
April 25, 2019 | Men's Golf
By Austin Coats, Student Assistant/Communications
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Mississippi State men's golf needed big rounds Thursday, and junior Garrett Johnson battled all day to record a 2-under 68 in round two of the SEC Championship.
Johnson's performance led all State players in front of two even par contributions from freshman Ford Clegg and senior Austin Rose. As a team, State shot an even 280.
"I was very pleased with how we came out with some more fire today, especially early on," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "I thought we did a nice job of having five guys battling all day. Garrett played a huge round for us and Ford and Rose also gave us a couple of solid rounds."
Despite a 10-shot improvement from the opening round, State moved up only one spot on the leaderboard and the gap to the coveted top 8 widened. At 10-over par and tied for 11th, MSU sits 14 strokes behind the position needed to qualify for quarterfinal match play follow Friday's final round of stroke play.
"Tomorrow is a very important day for us," Smith said. "We need to continue to build off the positives we had today and bring the same intensity and focus. This group is very close to putting it all together. We need to make sure we focus on us and what we can control."
The third round will begin at 6:30 a.m. CT, with the Bulldogs teeing off from the No. 10 hole at 8 a.m. CT. Live results will be available via Golfstat.
Rebounding from a 72 on day one, Johnson came out with three pars to start the day, followed by a two-shot eagle on his fourth hole, No. 13. The junior bounded back from a double bogey on 14 with two birdies to close the back nine. He bogeyed the fourth hole coming up the front nine, then ended his day with a birdie on eight and par on nine.
With his eagle on 13 Thursday and another in round one, Johnson's pair accounts for half of the field's eagles in the first two rounds. He is also one of four players shooting a field-best 4-under par on par 5s.
Rose started off hot, shooting 2-under through his first six holes. He fell into some trouble on his final three holes before making the turn. Rose bounced back with a 2-under performance coming up the back nine for his even 70 for the round.
Clegg sunk three consecutive birdies on 14, 15 and 16 but struggled on his last nine holes of the day to card his team-best 18th even-or-better round this season.
Rose sits 2-over, Clegg 3-over par for the event.
Junior Peng Pichaikool shot a 2-over 72 in round two, while senior Ross Bell carded a 75.
No. 13 Auburn leads the field with a 19-under par score through two rounds. Arkansas' Julian Perico and Auburn's Graysen Huff are tied atop the player leaderboard with 7-under 133s.
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.
MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith:
"I was very pleased with how we came out with some more fire today, especially early on. I thought we did a nice job of having five guys battling all day. Garrett played a huge round for us and Ford and Rose also gave us a couple of solid rounds. Tomorrow is a very important day for us. We need to continue to build off the positives we had today and bring the same intensity and focus. This group is very close to putting it all together. We need to make sure we focus on us and what we can control."
SEC Championship
1. Auburn (272+269=541, -19)
2. Vanderbilt (277+273=550, -10)
3. Georgia (272+279=551, -9)
T4. Tennessee (280+274=554, -6)
T4. Texas A&M (281+273=554, -6)
T6. Arkansas (281+274=555, -5)
T6. Kentucky (275+280=555, -5)
8. South Carolina (279+277=556, -4)
9. Ole Miss (275+283=558, -2)
10. LSU (282+282=564, +4)
T11. Mississippi State (290+280=570, +10)
T11. Alabama (292+278=570, +10)
13. Missouri (289+287=576, +16)
14. Florida (291+287=578, +18)
MSU Players
T27. Garrett Johnson (72+68=140, E)
T38. Austin Rose (72+70=142, +2)
T42. Ford Clegg (73+70=143, +3)
T50. Peng Pichaikool (73+72=145, +5)
T66. Ross Bell (76+75=151, +11)
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Mississippi State men's golf needed big rounds Thursday, and junior Garrett Johnson battled all day to record a 2-under 68 in round two of the SEC Championship.
Johnson's performance led all State players in front of two even par contributions from freshman Ford Clegg and senior Austin Rose. As a team, State shot an even 280.
"I was very pleased with how we came out with some more fire today, especially early on," MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith said. "I thought we did a nice job of having five guys battling all day. Garrett played a huge round for us and Ford and Rose also gave us a couple of solid rounds."
Despite a 10-shot improvement from the opening round, State moved up only one spot on the leaderboard and the gap to the coveted top 8 widened. At 10-over par and tied for 11th, MSU sits 14 strokes behind the position needed to qualify for quarterfinal match play follow Friday's final round of stroke play.
"Tomorrow is a very important day for us," Smith said. "We need to continue to build off the positives we had today and bring the same intensity and focus. This group is very close to putting it all together. We need to make sure we focus on us and what we can control."
The third round will begin at 6:30 a.m. CT, with the Bulldogs teeing off from the No. 10 hole at 8 a.m. CT. Live results will be available via Golfstat.
Rebounding from a 72 on day one, Johnson came out with three pars to start the day, followed by a two-shot eagle on his fourth hole, No. 13. The junior bounded back from a double bogey on 14 with two birdies to close the back nine. He bogeyed the fourth hole coming up the front nine, then ended his day with a birdie on eight and par on nine.
With his eagle on 13 Thursday and another in round one, Johnson's pair accounts for half of the field's eagles in the first two rounds. He is also one of four players shooting a field-best 4-under par on par 5s.
Rose started off hot, shooting 2-under through his first six holes. He fell into some trouble on his final three holes before making the turn. Rose bounced back with a 2-under performance coming up the back nine for his even 70 for the round.
Clegg sunk three consecutive birdies on 14, 15 and 16 but struggled on his last nine holes of the day to card his team-best 18th even-or-better round this season.
Rose sits 2-over, Clegg 3-over par for the event.
Junior Peng Pichaikool shot a 2-over 72 in round two, while senior Ross Bell carded a 75.
No. 13 Auburn leads the field with a 19-under par score through two rounds. Arkansas' Julian Perico and Auburn's Graysen Huff are tied atop the player leaderboard with 7-under 133s.
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.
MSU men's golf coach Dusty Smith:
"I was very pleased with how we came out with some more fire today, especially early on. I thought we did a nice job of having five guys battling all day. Garrett played a huge round for us and Ford and Rose also gave us a couple of solid rounds. Tomorrow is a very important day for us. We need to continue to build off the positives we had today and bring the same intensity and focus. This group is very close to putting it all together. We need to make sure we focus on us and what we can control."
SEC Championship
1. Auburn (272+269=541, -19)
2. Vanderbilt (277+273=550, -10)
3. Georgia (272+279=551, -9)
T4. Tennessee (280+274=554, -6)
T4. Texas A&M (281+273=554, -6)
T6. Arkansas (281+274=555, -5)
T6. Kentucky (275+280=555, -5)
8. South Carolina (279+277=556, -4)
9. Ole Miss (275+283=558, -2)
10. LSU (282+282=564, +4)
T11. Mississippi State (290+280=570, +10)
T11. Alabama (292+278=570, +10)
13. Missouri (289+287=576, +16)
14. Florida (291+287=578, +18)
MSU Players
T27. Garrett Johnson (72+68=140, E)
T38. Austin Rose (72+70=142, +2)
T42. Ford Clegg (73+70=143, +3)
T50. Peng Pichaikool (73+72=145, +5)
T66. Ross Bell (76+75=151, +11)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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