ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Auburn men’s golf sits solidly in first place at 27-under-par following day two of the SEC Championship at Sea Island Golf Club. The Tigers shot 16-under on Thursday, with three men shooting 65 (-5) or better.
“The guys played pretty well,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “They kind of turned it on when we got to the back nine. We got off to a bit of a slow start, probably a bit of nerves, especially with the young guys, but overall, a pretty good day for us.”
Auburn sits five shots ahead of the second-place team, No. 3 Texas (-22), and 15 shots ahead of Friday’s estimated cutline. Following Friday’s third round of stroke play, the field will be split in half with the top eight squads set to face off in head-to-head matches on Saturday and Sunday.
Heading into the stroke play finale, Auburn’s low man is none other than the two-time defending champion, Jackson Koivun. Thanks to back-to-back 64s (-6), Koivun holds the individual lead by two shots. His nearest trailers are Jase Summy (Oklahoma) and William Jennings (Alabama), who stand at 10-under.
Similar to his opening round, Koivun made one bogey and seven birdies on Thursday. He picked up birdies on 1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 16. He’s now birdied all but four holes on the Seaside Course at least once this week, including each of the first 11.
Auburn found two additional bright performances from fellow juniors Cayden Pope and Josiah Gilbert, both of whom went for 65 (-5). Pope shot 32 (-3) on the front with three birdies and six pars. He bogeyed 10 but made a statement with his finish as he birdied 14, 17 and 18.
Gilbert turned in a clean card with five birdies and 13 pars. He also had a solid finish with two birdies over his final four holes to see himself climb into the individual leaderboard’s top 10 ahead of Friday.
Freshman Logan Reilly got off to a rocky start at 3-over through five holes, but he dug in and fought back, closing his round with three birdies and 10 pars to get back to an even-par 70 for the day. Rookie Jake Albert shot 74 (+4). Albert’s highlight was an eagle, his fifth of the season, on the par-5 15th.
For the final round of stroke play competition, Auburn will play alongside the Longhorns, Rebels and Gators. The foursomes will tee off from the front, starting at 8:15 a.m. CT.