Oct. 10, 2011

Round Two Results

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Northwestern leapt up the leaderboard Monday during the second round of The Prestige at PGA West, firing the fourth-best score of the day in the 16-team event with an 8-under 280 on the Greg Norman Course.

One day after making just nine birdies as a team -- least in the field -- Northwestern bounced back with 21 in Monday's second round to break free of a 12th-place tie and climb all the way into a tie for eighth place with Southern California at 1-under 575 (295-280). The duo is one stroke behind seventh-place No. 18 Duke and three shots in front of 10th-place Vanderbilt.

Senior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) recovered fantastically well from an opening-round 6-over 78, carding a 3-under 69 in Monday's second round thanks to a strong finish. He began the shotgun start on the 13th hole, getting to 1-under with a birdie at No. 16. The 18th hole bit him for a bogey, but he drained a birdie effort at the third to again find red numbers. Two birdies in his final three holes including a superb 40-yard bunker shot to four feet led to a sub-70 score and a two-day total of 3-over 147 (78-69), good for 48th place.

"Chun looked like he was back in the right time zone," head coach Pat Goss tweeted. Chun recently returned from Singapore where he finished 14th at the Asian Amateur Championship before enduring some travel delays getting back to the United States.

Freshman Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont) began on the 10th hole, making birdie at the par-5 12th and the par-3 17th hole to find himself 2-under par. He gave a stroke back at No. 18, then made eight-consecutive pars before a birdie at No. 9 gave him a 2-under 70 on the round and a 2-under 142 (72-70) for the tournament, placing him 21st in the field.

Said a Goss tweet: "Negri played one of the rounds I love -- hit it poorly including hitting only four greens on his back nine, but putted well to shoot 70."

Senior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) teed off on No. 11 Monday and struggled to 3-over par through five holes of play before a beautiful bunker shot on the par-5 16th led to a tap-in birdie. He followed that up with a second tap-in birdie at No. 17 to get back to 1-over par heading to the front nine, which he played in 2-under 34 after birdies at Nos. 3 and 6. He finished his day with a fifth birdie on the par-4 10th hole to card a 2-under 70. Chien is 35th individually at even-par 144 (74-70) following 36 holes.

"Chien showed good resolve after getting to 3-over through five holes," Goss tweeted.

Freshman Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) was 1-over after seven holes in his second round before rapid-fire back-to-back birdies on holes No. 1 and 2 brought him down to 1-under par. A mistake at the par-3 seventh led to a double bogey, but again he recovered quickly with a birdie at No. 9 and another on No. 11 to close in red figures at 1-under 71. Lavin is all alone in 47th place at 2-over 146 (75-71).

"Lavin made a great adjustment in his putting and had 28 putts today," Goss tweeted.

Sophomore Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) teed off at No. 10 Monday and sandwiched bogeys on Nos. 10 and 18 around four birdies to card a 2-under 34 going out. Perry maintained that red number with six pars to start his front nine, but he found the water on the par-3 seventh for a double bogey prior to a bogey at No. 9 that left him at 1-over 73 on the round and 3-over 147 (74-73) for the tournament. Perry is 48th in the field alongside Chun.

"Perry played solidly for 15 holes," said Goss' final tweet of the night.

Northwestern returns to action in the final round of The Prestige at PGA West tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 11. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.

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