MOBILE, Ala. – The Illinois State men's golf team carded a tournament-low second round score of 281, and the Redbirds head into the final round in second place with 18 holes to play in the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate. The schools started the third round on Monday to attempt to avoid potential bad weather on Tuesday and got part of the way through the round before it was stopped because of darkness.
Only tournament leader Texas State (557) is ahead of Illinois State's 565. Valparaiso (573) is directly behind ISU, while Oral Roberts (574), Loyola Maryland (580), South Alabama (581), Eastern Michigan (583), Loyola Chicago (584), UCF (586), DePaul (587), Eastern Kentucky (588), Georgia State (590), Western Kentucky (591), and Dayton (592) round out the 14 schools in the tournament field.
Into the final round, the Redbirds have pushed ahead to the team lead, and are -6 in the tournament – ahead of Texas State's -3 aggregate score – with between 8-10 holes remaining for each of the squads.
Fifth-year senior Felix van Dijk ended his second round with a three-under 68, which put him tied for fifth in the field through 36 holes. He was never over par in his middle round with two pars and a birdie over his first three holes. Four more pars, an addition birdie and one bogey provided the scoring for the front nine, and he opened the back nine with an eagle, a par, and a birdie before closing with five pars and a bogey to finish with the 68.
Redshirt sophomore TJ Barger shot a matching 68, and his score has him tied for 10th in the tournament field with 18 holes to play. Barger stumbled out of the gate with a bogey on his first hole, but was spectacular over the final eight holes of his front nine with four birdies and four pars, making the turn at three shots under par. His back nine opened with three bogeys, a birdie and three pars; however, he closed with back-to-back birdies to shoot the three-under 68.
Valentin Peugnet was the team's third scorer on the day, finishing with a one-over 71, as he had two birdies, 10 pars and five bogeys through his first 17 holes, but an eagle on the par-five 18th hole sent him into the clubhouse with a one-over round, which has him tied for 34th in the field.
The team's final counting score on the day came from ISU's opening-day leader – Will Troy – who shot a two-over 73. His day got off to a rocky start as he opened with a par and three straight bogeys. He righted the ship over the final 14 holes, using 13 pars and a birdie – on the par-four 12th hole – to close with a two-over round, and he sits tied for 10th through 36 holes overall.
Alex McCulla shot a three-over 74 for ISU, using two birdies, 11 pars and five bogeys in his middle round, and his +3-tournament score through 36 holes has him tied for 22nd in the field. Playing as an individual, Parker Wisdom carded a three-over 75, which was tied for 59th in the tournament.
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