Golf: Men's
Nittany Lions tied for seventh after first day of Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational
After the first two rounds of the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational were played Monday, the Penn State men's golf team finds itself in a tie for seventh place with another Big Ten school, Michigan.
The Nittany Lions finished the first round of the day with a 296 (+12), which put them in seventh place in the 10-team field. Although they improved their second round score by four strokes, the overall 588 (+20) the Lions did not move them up the team leader board after the second round ended.
Two strokes behind the Lions is Michigan State, the other Big Ten school nearby in the standings. The fourth and final team from the conference, Northwestern, is well ahead of the other three -- the Wildcats are in second place at 575 (285-290).
Kent State (581) and Liberty (583) are just ahead of the Lions. Both schools have been golfing slightly better than Penn State, but a solid day can move the Lions into the tournament's top half.
Senior Jay Woodward and sophomore Jens Talbert lead the Lions in 18th place with a pair of 146s (+4). Woodward led the team in the first round with a 72, while freshman Geoff Vartelas led the team's second round of scoring with his own 72. Vartelas, at 150 (+8), is tied for 36th-place. He is one stroke behind senior Anthony DeGol (tied for 32nd place) and one stroke ahead of sophomore Xander McDonald-Smith (tied for 41st place), who rounds out the team's scoring.
North Texas is currently the tournament's leader. The team has been in first place after each round, shooting consecutive 284s.
After shooting a 66 (-5) to begin his tournament, Kent State's Kevin Miller slipped into a tie for third place with a 75 (+4) in the second round. The tournament's current leader is Rodolfo Cazaubon of North Texas, whose 138 (-4) is one stroke better than South Florida's Chase Koepka.
The final round of the event will be played Tuesday, and live scoring can be followed athttp://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/player/static/player3810.html. Coverage at the end of the tournament will be available in Wednesday's edition of The Daily Collegian.