PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Vanderbilt stole the show with some exciting and dominating golf over 36 holes Sunday during the John Hayt Invitational at the Sawgrass Country Club.
Defending national championship Gordon Sargent holds the outright lead, Reid Davenport (competing as an individual) paced the field for most of the day and Wells Williams, making his Vandy debut, carded a hole-in-one.
It all equated to the Commodores (-19) taking an eight-shot lead over host North Florida going into Monday’s final round.
“I am very proud of how our guys played and handled themselves on the course today. Conditions were not easy and we had some tough stretches, but we pushed through it and stayed positive,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “I want us to be a team that doesn’t let our emotions control our behaviors. Instead we want to control our emotions and they did a good job of that today and it made me proud.”
Sargent (-10) surged during the afternoon and the second round as he overtook teammate Davenport (-7). The sophomore from Alabama eagled the eighth then birdied three straight.
Sargent finished with a 64, the low round of the day which tied for a course record.
Williams (-2) is tied for 11th after 36 holes. He aced the 175-yard third hole and had two other eagles during his second round and another during the first round.
Jackson Van Paris is tied for fourth at 4-under-par, Matthew Riedel is tied for eighth at 3-under-par and Cole Sherwood (tied for 20th) finished at 1-under-par.
Davenport, meanwhile, opened with a 68 and followed that with a 69 to sit alone in second place and three strokes off Gordon’s lead. William Moll, also competing as an individual, is tied for 37th at 4-over-par.
“Gordon has been playing so well and he continued that today. Playing his last thirteen holes in 9-under is just amazing!” Limbaugh said. “Obviously, Reid played great golf today and I’m pumped to see that. Matthew looked good out there all day and played really well this afternoon. ‘JVP’ was in control all day long and really did a great job locking in and finishing both rounds strong! They both had some great up and downs to keep momentum which was important.
“Wells is playing in his first ever event. He got off to a slow start, but showed a lot of courage in how he responded. He made four eagles and his first ever hole in one in his first ever college tournament which is so cool!”
Vanderbilt started Sunday’s action…
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