 O'Neill Tops Leaderboard after Day One
April 10, 2006
ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis took 10 strokes off its first-round total to catapult up the standings into fifth place after the first two rounds of the Billiken Invitational at Gateway National Golf Links Monday afternoon. Paced by senior Barry O'Neill's tournament-leading two-round total of 140, the Billikens are just nine strokes back and look to make another move in Tuesday's final round of play. The day got off to an inauspicious beginning for the Billikens with their top three players shooting the highest first-round scores. Playing the number one position, David Perritt posted a 76 after bogeying the final two holes. Ryan Blechle struggled to a 78 in the second position, and senior John Campbell rounded out the group with a 77 after going just one-over on the back nine. O'Neill showed the way in the first round with a par 71, and freshman Collin Piercy rounded out the team with a 78. In round two, things began turning around for SLU as the Billikens were able to discard a 76 as the round's highest score. Piercy rebounded with a 74 after parring three of the last four holes to sit in 36th place. O'Neill lowered his score to a 69 with four birdies on the back nine then sat back as the clubhouse leader to see if his total would hold up. Campbell fired a 74, and Perritt closed out the scores with a 75. Both own a share of 28th place. Blechle posted a 76 to hold 46th place. Three Billikens competed as individuals in the tournament. Sophomore Adam Serrano shot matching 75s to sit in 24th place. Freshman Riley Rindo was similarly steady with rounds of 76 and 75 to join Campbell and Perritt in 28th place. Freshman Stefan Ballage opened with a 78 then shot 83 to fall to 76th place overall.
Austin Peay leads the tightly packed tournament with a two-round total of 585. The Governors are six strokes ahead of Tennessee Tech and Murray State, which are tied for second. Western Illinois sits in fourth place, just one shot in front of the Billikens. The teams will begin their final round at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. |
|
