Horschel and Villegas Within Striking Distance At Western Amateur
Thursday, August 2, 2007 | Men's Golf
University of Florida junior Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) finished his opening round of the 105th Western Amateur with a two-under 68 scorecard Wednesday. The two-time All-American is currently sitting tied for eighth place, three strokes behind leaders Rickie Fowler and Alex Prugh.
Horschel began his round with three birdies on the front nine, No. 4, 7 and 8. But after bogeys at No. 10 and 13, he birdied the par-four 14th. The 2007 SEC Player of the Year will tee off Thursday from the 10th tee box at 8:40 a.m. EST.
In his second-straight year at the Western Amateur, senior Manuel Villegas (Medillin, Columbia) shot a strong one-under 69 to put him in a tie for 13th place. After a birdie on his opening hole, Villegas finished the front nine with eight pars. After suffering a bogey at the turn, he cleared his head for back-to-back birdies on No. 13 and 14. His second round will begin at 1:50 p.m. EST from the 10th tee.
Sophomore Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.) started the day strong with three birdies on his first six holes. But with bogeys on his second hole and three on the back-nine, he finished the first round with a one-over 71. He is currently sitting tied for the 24th spot with fellow sophomore Andres Echavarria (Medillin, Columbia).
Echavarria was three-over after the first 11 holes, but bounced back, shooting two-under on the back half to finish with a one-over 71 with Alexander. Echavarria will start the second day at 7:50 a.m. EST from the 10th hole, while Alexander will tee off from No. 1 at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Senior Tyler Brown (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla) felt the effects of having the earliest tee time of any other Gator, shooting a six-over 76. Despite knocking in three birdies in his first nine holes, Brown registered bogeys on No. 6, 10 and 17 along with double bogeys on No. 3, 9, and 12. He will look to turn it around in his second round from the first tee box at 12:30 p.m. EST.
Former Gator Duke Butler IV (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) traded two birdies for two bogeys through nine holes, but added two more strokes on the back nine for a score of two-over 72. Butler will continue his weekend from the first tee box at 7:50 a.m. EST.
At the conclusion of the second round on Thursday, the field will be cut to the low 50 and to the low 16 on Friday.
For complete tournament information, including live scoring, please visit the official site of The Western Amateur.
-UF-
