BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior Gordon Sargent sits atop the player leaderboard through 36 holes of play at the SEC Match Play, as he ends his day at 13-under 129.
Sargent, the 2022 NCAA individual champion, put on a show in his hometown. The Birmingham, Alabama native collected a total of 15 birdies to post scores of 64-65 through two rounds of play at the Country Club of Birmingham. The highlight of Sargent’s day came in the second round, as he collected an eagle on Hole 12. The All-American holds a three-stroke lead over Auburn’s Brendan Valdes heading into Tuesday’s final round of stroke play.
The No. 3-ranked Commodores ended the first day of the SEC Match Play in third place with a 36-hole score of 23-under 545. Vanderbilt opened stroke play by carding 8-under 276 in the first round and sat in a tie for fifth going into the afternoon’s second round. The Dores moved up two spots on the team leaderboard in Round 2, as Vandy carded 15-under 269. Vanderbilt heads into Tuesday’s final round of stroke play seven strokes off leader Auburn.
“I thought we played pretty solid out there today, said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “Gordon played great and really gave our team a spark that we had to have. Matthew was also really good and in control all day long, especially this afternoon. These are long days and we have to continue to stay mentally strong when we get tired. I thought we got a little quick with some routines late in the day, which cost us a few shots. These are little things, but things we have full control over, and we know we can do at a height level. Super proud of how the guys competed all day.”
All-American Matthew Riedel also sits inside the top 10 on the player leaderboard after two rounds of play. The graduate student carded 8-under 134 during his first 36 holes. Riedel caught fire in the second round, as he carded 6-under 65.
William Moll ended his day just outside the top 25, as the graduate student is in 26th place after carding 3-under 139 through two rounds of play at the Country Club of Birmingham.
The final round of stroke play at the SEC Match Play will take place Tuesday. Vanderbilt will tee off between 9:40-10:20 a.m. Fans can find live stats for Round 3 at GolfGenius.com.
“Tomorrow should be fun and we need our fans ready to cheer on our guys,” Limbaugh added. “It’s going to take all five guys in it, starting with Cole and Jackson. They are both guys we believe in and I’m excited to see…
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