GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- After 36 holes of the 41st annual SunTrust Gator Invitational, Florida sits in second place just one stroke back of Vanderbilt.
The Gators were paced by four players in the top 25 including
Gordon Neale and
Alejandro Tosti who both finished inside of the top 10 on the leaderboard.
Neale, Florida's No. 1 this weekend, was 2-under entering the final two holes. He birdied the 17th. After his drive on the 18th, Neale had 120 yards to the pin. He struck it perfectly and holed it out for a eagle to close out the second round of the Gator Invitational.
He sits at 4-under par in third just two back of the leader Claudio Correa. Tosti is one stroke behind Neale at 2-under and in a tie for 10th on the leaderboard. Tosti recorded the Gators other eagle on the day carding a two on No. 14 in round one.
John Axelsen and
Blake Dyer join them in the top 25 as they are both even par through 36 holes of play at Mark Bostick Golf Course.
Florida leads the field in scoring on both par three and par five holes thus far. The Gators are 3-over on par threes and 12-under par on par five holes.
Coach's Take
On having five strong guys in the lineup -- "Everyone contributed, everyone's rounds counted across the board.
Blake Dyer's 68 in the first round was huge.
John Axelsen's 68 in the second round was huge. Andy played some great golf that didn't end up in great rounds but, he had a lot of good scores going. Gordon and Tosti led us at the top like you would expect. I think it was a really great day"-coachÂ
J.C. Deacon
On looking at tomorrow -- "It is such a great opportunity. Vanderbilt is some great competition and UCF has had a really competitive team. To be able to compete against them on our home course, those are the opportunities that you want, practice and work hard for. We just have to go and do what we do best which is go out and be play patient and discipline. We have to go be clutch." -Deacon
On overall thoughts on the performance -- "I'm pretty happy. I think we could have played better but, the guys fought really hard.
Gordon Neale was just outstanding today, fighting, never quit and obviously had that great finish -- finishing birdie eagle. I'm happy with the guys effort. They are trying hard and doing the right things. We just have to be the best team tomorrow." -Deacon
On the playing conditions -- "February in Florida is very, very nice. We are very lucky.
Paul Hamilton and his staff on the maintenance crew did an amazing job. The course was perfect and greens were perfect, that's all you can ask for. I think the players and coaches were happy so, it was a great day." -Deacon
Final Scores:
Team
| 1 |
Vanderbilt |
552 (-8) |
| 2 |
Florida |
553 (-7) |
| 3 |
UCF |
558 (-2) |
| T4 |
South Florida |
559 (-1) |
| T4 |
Jacksonville |
559 (-1) |
| T6 |
North Florida |
560 (E) |
| T6 |
Missouri |
560 (E) |
| 8 |
Georgia Southern |
561 (+1) |
| 9 |
Liberty |
567 (+7) |
| 10 |
Arkansas |
569 (+9) |
| 11 |
UAB |
570 (+10) |
| 12 |
College of Charleston |
573 (+13) |
| 13 |
Coastal Carolina |
574 (+14) |
| 14 |
Lipscomb |
579 (+19) |
| 15 |
Mississippi State |
583 (+23) |
| 16 |
Troy |
605 (+45) |
Florida Individual
Also competingÂ
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