COAL VALLEY, Ill. – After a record-setting opening round, the Illinois State men's golf team continued to soar on Monday in the second round of the Championship, carding a second consecutive eight-under 276 in the second of three rounds, as the 'Birds have a nine-stroke lead heading into the final round.
One day after opening the conference tournament with the best MVC Championship single-round score in over 25 years, the Redbirds equaled that score in the second round with a 276 and now have the two lowest single-round scores in the conference championship since 1998.
ISU's two-round 552 is nine strokes higher than Valparaiso's 561 in second place. Northern Iowa is three under par on the tournament with a 565. Bradley (570), Belmont (571), Southern Illinois (572), Murray State (574), Evansville (582), Missouri State (587), and Drake (591) round out the 10 schools in the tournament field.
Felix van Dijk stands in sole possession of second place in the individual standings with a two-round 134, while Alex McCulla and Felix van Dijk have matching 139's (-3) to tie for third. Parker Wisdom, behind back-to-back 70's, is tied for seventh while freshman Pietro Pontiggia is tied for 32nd with a two-round 148.
McCulla had the team's best round with a four-under 67 – tying his career-low – including six birdies on the round and by climbing 13 spots he was the third-biggest placement jump in the field from the first and second round. He opened his day with back-to-back birdies, and then answered with two straight bogeys – his only two bogeys of the round. He came immediately back with a birdie on the par-four fifth hole and closed his front nine with three pars and another birdie to set at two under at the turn. He shot a bogey-free back nine with two birdies to finish four shots under par.
For the second consecutive round this tournament, and his fourth consecutive round overall, van Dijk shot in the 60's, carding a second-round 69 (-2). He opened with a par before recording his only bogey of the tournament so far on the par-four second hole. He responded quickly with a birdie on the par-four fourth hole and went into the turn under par when he birdied the par-four ninth hole. Eight pars and a birdie on the par-five 13th hole put van Dijk under par for the back nine, ending the round two strokes under par.
For the fourth time in his last five rounds, Wisdom carded a career-low-tying 70. The senior birdied the par-five first hole and came back with eight consecutive pars to make the turn at -1. After three pars to open the back nine he birdied the par-five 13th hole, and he stayed at two shots under par until the 18th hole when he carded a five on the par-four final hole to finish with a -1 second round.
Peugnet opened his day with four consecutive pars before putting up back-to-back bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes to push his aggregate score to two shots over par. He closed his front nine with a pair of pars and a birdie to make the turn at one shot over par. For the first seven holes of the back nine he alternated between par and birdie, with birdies on the 11th, 13th, and 15th holes. His final-hole bogey gave him a 70 for the 18 holes and is three under par between the opening two rounds.
Freshman Pontiggia opened with a birdie and after a pair a bogey dropped him back to even par. Four more pars was followed by a double bogey, as he went into the turn with a sixth par of the front nine at two shots over par. A bogey to start the back nine pushed him to three shots over par, before he rebounded with two pars, and then a two-birdie-in-three-hole stretch to drop him back to one over. He closed his round with a bogey and par to end the day with a two-over 73.
The Redbirds tee off – weather and frost permitting – at 9:50 a.m. on Monday with Pontiggia leading off ISU, while Wisdom will go off the opening tee at 10:00 a.m., McCulla at 10:10 a.m., Peugnet at 10:20 a.m., and van Dijk's grouping will be the final one off the first hole at 10:30 a.m.
McCulla will go off the opening tee at 10:00 a.m., Wisdom at 10:10 a.m., Peugnet at 9:30 a.m., and van Dijk at 9:40 a.m.
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