Western Carolina 13th at Phoenix Invitational
BURLINGTON, N.C. – Western Carolina senior Tyler Lail rallied 25 spots in Monday’s second round to sit tied for 28th overall to lead the Catamounts after 36 of the scheduled 54 holes at the Elon Phoenix Invitational being held at the par-71, 6,867-yard Alamance Country Club. WCU is 13th overall entering Tuesday’s finale.
Lail carded a birdie and an eagle in Monday’s opening round to counter seven bogeys and one double-bogey to shoot 6-over-par 77 to start the day. Lail was poised to end his second round under par, closing with five consecutive pars among his final six holes. However, a bogey on the 36th hole of the day relegated him to even-par 71 and 148 through two rounds. Lail, who carded six birdies on Monday, is just four strokes outside the individual top 10.
Seeing his first action of the fall, junior Evan Smith (153) sits in a tie for 55th overall after rounds of 75 and 79. Rounding out WCU’s scoring five are freshman Lawson King in a tie for 69th with a two-round score of 155, sophomore Jackson Bishop in a tie for 77th at 157, and freshman Mark David Johnson in 92nd overall at 167.
Playing unattached as an individual, freshman Alex Lee sits in a five-way tie for 33rd with a two-round score of 149. Bradley Durand, a second Catamount freshman competing as an individual, posted rounds of 74 and 76 to sit in a tie for 38th overall at 150.
East Carolina – 47th in the latest GolfStat rankings – put four golfers inside the individual top 10 to hold an 11-stroke advantage over tournament host Elon in the runner-up spot. The Pirates shot 564 (279-285) to lead the Phoenix, which posted rounds of 287 and 288 for a two-round total of 575. VCU and Charleston Southern are tied for third with scores of 578, with Gardner-Webb rounding out the top five at 587.
ECU’s Jacob Hicks paces the 93-golfer field, carrying a two-stroke advantage over Elon’s Jonathan Dilanni and Adam Ball of VCU into Tuesday’s final round. Hicks shot 6-under-par 136, featuring a second-round score of 5-under-par 66.
Paired with golfers from Binghamton and High Point, WCU’s scoring five will hit the course in Tuesday’s final round on the back nine with tee times starting at 9:10 a.m. The two Catamount individuals will also go off the back nine with Lee teeing off at 10:06 a.m. and Durand at 10:22 a.m.