April 20, 2007
SEA ISLAND, Ga. - The 24th-ranked Auburn men's golf team is tied for sixth with a 24-over 304 behind sophomore Patton Kizzire's 72 in the first round of the SEC Championship at the par-70, 6,991-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club Friday. Kizzire is in second, three shots behind Ole Miss' Will Roebuck, who shot a 1-under 69.
Ole Miss fired a 295 and holds a three-shot lead over No. 3 Alabama (298). LSU is in third at 301 followed by No. 16 Tennessee (301), Vanderbilt (302), No. 4 Florida (304), South Carolina (304), Auburn (304), Mississippi State (304), No. 1 Georgia (308), Kentucky (312) and Arkansas (316).
Juniors Jay Moseley and Gordon Strother are tied for 31st at 7-over 77 followed by junior Jamie Bowen in a tie for 39th at 8-over 88 and sophomore Glenn Northcutt in a tie for 51st at 11-over 81.
"We played a bad first round again," head coach Mike Griffin said. "I'm hoping the weather was the reason for that because everyone else played bad too. We'll see what happens. We'll see what we can do with it now. We had a terrible first day and it hasn't hurt us too bad right now."
After a 6 on the par-4 No. 5 , Kizzire birdied No. 8 and made the turn at 1-over. The Tuscaloosa, Ala., native bogeyed Nos. 10 and 12 before a birdie on the 15th put him at 2-over.
"It was awfully windy out there," Kizzire said. "The fast greens and wind made it difficult. The scores were high. It was a battle of who could get to the clubhouse first. We didn't play that well, and to only be six shots back is good. We feel fortunate."
"Patton had an extraordinary round," Griffin said. "He showed a lot of guts and did not let the weather affect him. I was very pleased with his play."
After Roebuck and Kizzire, a quartet of golfers including Arkansas' Andrew Landry, Vanderbilt's Luke List, Alabama's Gator Todd and LSU's Chris Wells are tied for third at 3-over 73.
Auburn tees off in the second round of the SEC Championship Saturday at 7:50 am Central. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.