Spartans in Eighth at Boilermaker Invitational

April 21, 2012

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After the first two rounds of the Boilermaker Invitational, the Michigan State men's golf team is in eighth place, after shooting a 27-over par 603 (306-297) at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex Kampen Course. Freshman McCormick Clouser paced the Spartans on Saturday, sitting in a tie for 11th at 3-over par 147 (77-70).

Saturday's Results

"Our finish in each round hurt our results, but overall we played better today and played hard," said Spartan head coach Casey Lubahn. "We fought through some adversity, but the big numbers at the end beat up our round. Tomorrow we need to keep with what we are doing. If we do that, we have a chance to play a good round and move up the leaderboard."

Clouser was top on the team and fifth in the field with eight birdies on Saturday, including six in the second round. He also has the best score in the field on the par-4s, playing them at 3-under par. Clouser's second round of 2-under 70, tied his season low score.

Junior Dan Ellis is tied for 29th after scoring a 7-over 151 (77-74), while classmate Matthew Moseley is tied for 34th at 8-over par 152 (75-77) and Dave Ellis is tied for 38th at 9-over par 153 (77-76). Rounding out the Spartan five, senior Chris Mory struggled to shoot 20-over 164 (83-81) and is tied for 82nd.

No. 18 Kent State and No. 26 Iowa are tied for the team lead at 11-over par 587. No. 39 Illinois is two shots back, while No. 36 Wichita State is three back entering tomorrow's final round. Wichita State's Rafael Becker has a four-shot lead individually, carding a 4-under par 140.

Sunday's final round is schedule to begin with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. ET.