August 29, 2008

VCU MOVES INTO A TIE FOR THIRD PLACE ON DAY TWO AT PENN STATE
Rams will wrap up competition in Pennsylvania Tuesday

Complete Results

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—The Virginia Commonwealth University golf team was even with Purdue University late in the second round of the 12-team Rutherford Intercollegiate at Nemacolin’s Mystic Rock, but the Rams slipped to third place by the end of the round. VCU will begin its final round of its season-opening tournament Tuesday morning at 7:40.

“We gave away some shots down the stretch, and Purdue started making some birdies,” said VCU head coach Matt Ball. “We’ve just got to have a really good day, and we’re close to it.”

The Rams shot five strokes better on Monday than during their opening round, recording an 8-over 296. VCU is now tied for third with 33rd-ranked Penn State with a two-day total of 597 (+21). Purdue leads the event at 586 (+10).

“The stroke averages were actually higher across the board today,” Ball said. “This is a good golf course. It really exposes your weaknesses, and everybody’s got a few. To shoot a decent round here is good. To shoot two in a row is tough.”

Junior Lanto Griffin (Blacksburg, Va.) finds himself in third place after firing a second-round 70 (-2). Griffin’s Monday round was the second-best 18 holes of the day. Griffin is 2-over 146 through 36 holes. Fellow-junior Vincent Nadeau (Penhook, Va.) is also in the top five after carding a second-round 73 (+1). He is one shot back of Griffin for the tournament.

Battling a neck injury, junior Rafael Campos (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) battled to a 5-over 77 on Monday, giving him a two-round total of 151 (+7). Campos is tied for 13th. Freshman Chase Sargent (Orlando, Fla.) recorded a second-round 76 (+4), while sophomore Mark Jargren (Helsingborg, Sweden) rounded out the scoring with an 82 (+10).

“We showed signs of life today,” Ball said. “Rafa’s neck will be a key tomorrow. Our guys are fired up. The guys think they can score well here. We’ve seen the course a couple days, and we really feel like we have some good golf in front of us.”