Florida Gators

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Gators are on a record-setting pace through two rounds of the NCAA Kissimmee Regional.

Florida is 25-under-par and in the lead by five strokes after 36 holes of play at the Watson Course at Reunion Resort. Florida's score is tied for the seventh-lowest mark in school history and with one round of play have a chance to break the 12-year-old school record. The record of 37-under was set at the 2006 NCAA West Regional at Omni Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.

All five Gators are below par and inside the top 25 of the leaderboard with Andy Zhang and John Axelsen squarely in contention for the individual title. Zhang fired his second 4-under round of the tournament and is in a three-way tie for first with Kyler Tate of UCF and Austin Hitt of North Carolina. Zhang will be paired with Tate in the final group to go off of No. 1. 

Axelsen will start the final day one shot back of the leader as a 68 (-4) in the second round helped him jump into a tie for fourth place with Ian Holt of Kent State. 

In the first group out on the course Tuesday, Alejandro Tosti set the pace with a 3-under that included six birdies including a stretch of three straight from holes No. 8 to No. 10.

Chris Nido was the fourth Florida player to card a score below par as his round of 70 (-2) puts him in a tie for 15th on the leaderboard.

The Gators as a whole carded a second round score of 275 (-13) which was the best score on the course by two strokes. It also tied the 13th lowest score to par for a single round in school history.

Florida will be paired with UCF (-20), Kent State (-16) and South Florida (-13) in the final round tomorrow. Due to potential weather conditions, the final round will be a shotgun style format with play starting at 8:00 a.m. ET.

#LiveUnderPar
The Gators are on pace to set the school record for strokes under par. Below are the top-10 tournament scores (by par):
 

Rank	Score	Event
1.	827 (-37)	2006 NCAA West Regional
2.	828 (-36)	2003 Atlanta Intercollegiate
T3.	810 (-30)	2001 SunTrust Gator Invitational
T3.	822 (-30)	2017 Mason Rudolph Championship
5.	837 (-27)	2001 NCAA East Regional
6.	1126 (-26)	2001 NCAA Championships#
T7.	551 (-25)	2018 NCAA Kissimmee Regional*
T7.	839 (-25)	2004 Atlanta Intercollegiate
T7.	815 (-25)	2000 SunTrust Gator Invitational
10.	840 (-24)	2005 Gary Koch Invitational

*Through two rounds of play
#Four rounds of play

Coach's Take
On feelings of overall tournament:
"It was another outstanding day for our team. We are seeing what we look like when all five guys are going. Thirteen-under-par is very impressive." -- Coach J.C. Deacon

On focus heading into final round:
"Although we have played two great rounds, we have some unfinished business to take care of. I expect to see our most focused and committed golf in tomorrow's final round. We've waited a whole year for this opportunity." -- Coach J.C. Deacon

Scores After Round Two:
Team:

1	Florida	551 (-25)
2	UCF	556 (-20)
3	Kent State	560 (-16)
4	South Florida	563 (-13)
T5	Colorado State	565 (-11)
T5	North Carolina	565 (-11)
T5	Vanderbilt	565 (-11)
8	Arizona	571 (-5)
9	Purdue	573 (-3)
10	Coastal Carolina	578 (+2)
11	Jacksonville State	579 (+3)
12	St. Mary's (CA)	581 (+5)
13	Georgetown	587 (+11)
14	Central Connecticut	597 (+21)

Florida Individual

Andy Zhang	T1	136 (-8)
John Axelsen	T4	137 (-7)
Chris Nido	T15	141 (-3)
Gordon Neale	T18	142 (-2)
Alejandro Tosti	T23	143 (-1)

Tee Times:
Wednesday Rd. 3 – 8:00 a.m. (ET)

Player	Hole	Time (ET)
Alejandro Tosti	5	8:00 a.m.
Gordon Neale	4	8:00 a.m.
Chris Nido	3	8:00 a.m.
John Axelsen	2	8:00 a.m.
Andy Zhang	1	8:00 a.m.

Follow the Action
Play will continue on Wednesday, May 16th. Live scoring will be available on GolfStat.com. A complete recap with full results will be posted on FloridaGators.com following each day's play.

Follow the Gators
FloridaGators.com
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook