April 21, 2007
SEA ISLAND, Ga. - Junior Patton Kizzire followed his opening round 72 with a 1-under 69 Saturday to take the individual lead and help the 24th-ranked Auburn men's golf team move into fifth with a 288 for a 592 total after the SEC Championship second round at the par-70, 6991-yard Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.
Kizzire's 1-over 141 total is three strokes ahead of four golfers tied for second. The Tuscaloosa, Ala., native entered the day just three shots back in second and wasted little time taking the lead. He bogeyed the par-4 No. 5, then birdied Nos. 4, 5, 7 and 8 to move into first. He would eventually fall to second before regaining the lead at the end of the round. Kizzire finished the day with just 29 putts.
"It was another tough day, but I fought through it," Kizzire said. "It was a good thing my putter was working. I putted real well. I'm going to treat the final round like any other round. I'm just going to go out there and play golf and do the best I can."
Kizzire will attempt to become Auburn's fourth SEC Champion. Jimmy Green claimed the title in 1991, Bryant MacKellar in 1997 and Roland Thatcher in 2000.
"I am very pleased and excited for Patton," head coach Mike Griffin said. "He had another good round and is in the hunt. I hope he can go out there and get after it, and I hope we as a team get out there and do the same."
Sixteenth-ranked Tennessee shot the day's low round to claim the lead with a 301-283--584. Alabama is in second with a 298-288--586 followed by No. 4 Florida (304-288--592), Ole Miss (295-293--588), No. 24 Auburn (304-288--592), Vanderbilt (302-295--597), No. 1 Georgia (308-289--597), LSU (301-297--98), South Carolina (304-297--601), Kentucky (312-293--605), Mississippi State (304-307--611) and Arkansas (316-295--611).
Sophomore Glenn Northcutt also had a solid round for the Tigers, rebounding from Friday's 81 to fire an even-par 70 and move into a tie for 29th at 11-over 151. Juniors Jamie Bowen (78-74--152) and Gordon Strother (77-75--152) are tied for 36th while junior Jay Moseley is in 51st with a 77-79--156.
After Northcutt birdied No. 13, Auburn moved into a tie for third and was seven shots off the lead before going 7-over on the final six holes to drop to fifth.
"I am very pleased with the rounds from Patton and Glenn," Griffin said. "Those were two rounds that put us in a situation of getting back in contention immediately. We are going to have to shoot under par to have a chance to win this. It is going to take the best round we've had all year. We are at least in a much better situation today than yesterday."
Florida's Tyler Brown (75-69--144), Vanderbilt's Jon Curran (76-68--144), Ole Miss' Will Roebuck (69-75--144) and Tennessee's Tino Weiss (74-70--144) are all tied for second.
Auburn tees off in Sunday's third and final round at 7:00 am Central. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.