Tosti Shines on Day One of SEC Championship

Friday, April 21

St. Simons Island, GA

All Day

Florida Gators

SEC Championship

Alejandro Tosti shot the best single-round of the year on Friday.

Tosti Shines on Day One of SEC Championship

Friday, April 21, 2017 | Men's Golf

By: Turner F. Street

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The Florida's men's golf team had an up and down day during the first two rounds of the SEC Championship Friday at the Sea Island Golf Club.

After taking a four-stroke lead following an 11-under 269 in the first round, the Gators shot a nine-over 289 in the second round to fall to third place, three strokes behind the leaders, Texas A&M. The 269 in the first round

Alejandro Tosti had a solid day on the course, shooting the team's best round of the year with a 64 (-6) in round one. The junior followed it up with a second round 69, putting him in the lead by one stroke after the first day of competition at seven-under overall. Tosti's first round was remarkable, carding a bogey-free front nine and seven birdies overall.

Sophomore Gordon Neale had a great first round, too, also notching seven birdies, including four in a row to finish the round with a 65.
The Gators are back in action tomorrow at the SEC Championship in St. Simons Island, Georgia, for round three at 9:10 a.m.

Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On his team's performance in the first two rounds:
"I'm really proud of our first round. It shows us that all of the though, preparation, effort and time that went into this tournament was worth it. We came out and played our best round of the year when it mattered most and that's what practice is all about. In the second round, we got a little caught up in what we did in the first round and we got away from where our focus needs to be. All of our guys know how to play the right way and we just got away from it in the afternoon and I know we are going to get back to it tomorrow morning."

On the play of Alejandro Tosti:
"I'm starting to call him 'el mago,' which is 'the magician' in Spanish. He's really starting to grasp the mental game and it's amazing what his talent can do when his mind is focused like it was today. He was the most focused player in the tournament and he was determined. Every single time that he made a bogey or worse, he followed it with a birdie. That kind of discipline and resilience is exactly what a championship golfer needs and he displayed it today."

On what the team needs to do to play well in round three:
"We just have to get back to doing what we do best, playing patient, disciplined golf and letting our putters do the work. We can hit 15-plus greens and that's what we need tomorrow. I know our guys are going to do it. It's a really important round for us and I expect it to be one of the best ones that we've had all year."

Rd. 2 Florida Scores
Team:

Place	Team	Score	Round 1	Round 2	Total
1	Texas A&M	-5	273	282	555
2	Vanderbilt	-3	276	281	557
3	FLORIDA	-2	269	289	558
4	LSU	+2	278	284	562
T5	Alabama	+3	275	288	563
T5	Missouri	+3	284	279	563
7	Auburn	+5	278	287	565
8	South Carolina	+9	283	286	569
9	Ole Miss	+12	282	290	572
10	Georgia	+20	291	289	580
11	Kentucky	+21	292	289	581
12	Arkansas	+31	299	292	591
13	Tennessee	+35	301	294	595
14	Mississippi State	+36	298	298	596

Players:

Place	Player	Score	Round 1	Round 2	Total
1.	Alejandro Tosti	-7	64	69	133
T10.	Gordon Neale	-1	65	74	139
T18.	Sam Horsfield	+1	69	72	141
T50.	Jorge Garcia	+9	71	78	149
T58.	Andy Zhang	+11	77	74	151