SEA ISLAND, Ga. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team came firing out of the gates at the Spartan Collegiate, jumping out to a first-place lead that the Irish now share with Michigan State heading into the final round.
Notre Dame carded a season-best 278 (-10) in round one, led by a trio of Irish golfers all carding a 69 (-3). The Irish weren’t as consistent in round two, recording a 292 (+4), which opened the door for host Michigan State. The Spartans, who trailed the Irish by seven strokes after round one, shot three-under in round two, to bring both teams to a tie at six-under-par.
Individually, Notre Dame’s Andrew O’Leary is in the driver’s seat for what could be his first title. The junior is in first place with a five-under-par after firing off a 69 and 70. Senior Davis Chatfield is also in the top-10 with a two-under-par overall.
Tuesday’s final round will begin with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Live scoring can once again be found on Golfstat.com.
ROUND ONE
How about three Irish all sitting in second place by the time the first round concluded. Davis Chatfield, Taichi Kho and Andrew O’Leary all fired off an opening-round 69 (-3) to vault Notre Dame into first place. O’Leary also had the highlight of round one, notching an eagle on the par-four sixth.
In fact, every Irish player finished under-par as Palmer Jackson and Tucker Clark each carded a 71 (-1).
Thus, Notre Dame shot a 278, as its 10-under par marked a season-low round. It also gave the Irish some cushion with it besting the next best team in Michigan State, by seven strokes.
ROUND TWO
O’Leary had the consistent hand in the afternoon, tallying a 70 (-2) to move to five-under-par overall and first place in the tournament. The junior is just one stroke ahead of individuals from Rutgers, Iowa and Georgia Southern.
The next best score came from Chatfield, who carded a 73 (+1), dropping the senior to two-under and a share for seventh place. Clark came in next with a 74 (+2), moving him into 27th place at one-over.
Kho was heading toward another round under-par but a triple-bogey on the par-four sixth soured the round. The junior finished with a 75 (+3), thus dropping to even-par and tie for 17th. Lastly, Jackson scored a 78 in the latter round, dropping to five-over and 53rd place.
— ND —