Men’s Golf Surges Into First Place on Second Day of White Sands Bahamas Invitational

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – The Blue Devils men’s golf team jumped to the top of the White Sands Bahamas Invitational leaderboard on Saturday, firing a 17-under 271 as a team in the second round. Sitting at 27-under through the first two rounds, Duke has matched the second-best 36-hole score in program history and takes a 12-shot lead into the final round tomorrow morning.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Duke improved on its Friday team score of 276, finishing with a 271 (-17) in the second round on Saturday.
• The low round of the day came courtesy of Jimmy Zheng who carded a 6-under 66 in his second round. The junior bounced back from a 1-over 73 on Friday by rolling in eight birdies on Saturday, including a stretch of five in his final eight holes of the day. The Auckland, New Zealand native will enter the final round of play in a tie for 12th-place at 5-under overall.
• Luke Sample continued his strong play on Saturday with a second straight round in the 60’s. A bogey-free 5-under 67 was highlighted by a surge on the back nine that included four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 13 to No. 17. The sophomore is tied for second-place, two shots back of the individual lead, going into Sunday’s final round.
• Freshman William Love extended his streak of having every round in 2022 count towards the team score on Saturday, shooting a 3-under 69. The Atlanta, Ga., native played No. 11 through No. 18 at 5-under-par, including an eagle on the par-5 16th. With a 36-hole score of 4-under, Love is tied for 14th-place on the individual leaderboard.
• Ian Siebers also carded a 3-under 69 in the second round. The junior recovered from a slow start to make the turn at 1-under 35 and rolled in three birdies on the back nine en route to his second consecutive round in the 60’s. The Bellevue, Wash., native is tied for fifth-place overall and is just four shots off the lead.
• Also for Duke, Kelly Chinn shot an even-par 72 on Saturday. Chinn currently sits tied for 17th-place at 3-under overall and ensured that all five Blue Devils in the lineup this weekend enters the final day of play inside the top-20.
• Individually, Ethan Evans shot a 1-under 70 on Saturday and John Peters rounded out Duke’s day with a 1-over 73. The two individuals are currently tied for 23rd and 34th, respectively.
• The Duke men’s golf team also had…