Michigan State Leads After 2nd Round At Sage Run

Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos. Also listen to comments from James Piot, Bryce Douglas, Ty Kretz, Carter Mason, Scotty Spyra, NMU Coach Bob Bastian, and tournament director Casey Van Damme.

HARRIS---The Michigan State Spartans rolled to a 16-stroke lead Sunday heading into the final round of the Island Resort NCAA Men's Golf Championship at the Sage Run Golf Course.

Battling high winds and fatigue after 36 holes and nine hours of golf, United States Amateur champion James Piot carded a 138 to take a one-stroke lead over his MSU teammate, Troy Taylor.

"It was a pretty good day," Piot said. "I'm pretty happy that I shot well enough to be in the mix for tomorrow. I thought my wedges were pretty good. My irons were pretty decent. A couple errant drives got away from me, the putter wasn't super-hot. I didn't really make anything outside of ten feet today. It was streaky. But a lot of positives looking into tomorrow."

MSU leads rival Michigan by 16 strokes (559-575) heading into Monday's final round. Central Florida is third (582), South Dakota State fourth (584) and Middle Tennessee State (585) is in fifth place. Kentucky (589), Bowling Green (599),

Detroit Mercy (608), and Wisconsin-Green Bay (617) are in the sixth-through-nnith spots.

Detroit's Bryce Douglas is a fifth-year senior from Gladstone. He says he enjoyed playing in his hometown again, but wasn't thrilled with his two-round 162, which is 24 strokes behind Piot.

"I hit a lot of good shots today, but it's just the short game let me down big time on some holes," Douglas said. "I made a couple doubles (bogeys) in the first round but threw in some birdies. I was able to keep it in the 70s. Not exactly what I was looing for. Then in the second round, I actually made quite a few birdies and a lot of pars. But then for three holes, I just lost it."

Another local boy, South Dakota State's Ty Kretz, is from Marinette. He shot 151, so he is 13 strokes off the pace heading into Monday.

"I'm happy with how I played," Kretz said. "I made a lot of nice par putts. I didn't make any birdie putts, I think I only had three or four birdies for 36 holes. But I hit the ball all right atter my first nine. It feels like home. It was nice to see all of my family ater being away at college. I kept it together."

The only Division Two team here, Northern Michigan University, is in tenth place at 637.

Carter Mason of Negaunee is the top Cat, tied for 55^th after shooting a 157.

"It didn't go as well as I wanted it to," Mason said. "I couldn't really get off of the tee. I putted well. But otherwise, it was tough out there. I could definitely feel it (fatigue) on the last nine holes there. The feet were hurting. It was a grind. I'm happy to be done!"

Wildcat junior Scotty Spyra shot a 162.

"My first round was deinitely not what I wanted to do because I started off really, really bad (an 84)," Spyra said. "My second round was good (78). I was even on the front nine."

"I kind of let some things slip on the back nine. But for the team, I think for what we're dealing with (all D-1 schools), we struggled in the second round, so I think we will have to work really hard and bring it back stronger tomorrow."

It was a dry day, but a windy one, especially in the afternoon's 18 holes.

"The wind was blowing and the course was super-firm," Douglas said. "You really had to make sure you were on the right side of the hole, or you were making a (high) number today. It was tough out here today."

"Last year (2019), it seemed like it was a lot easier conditions-wise," Piot said. "The greens were firmer. They're a little softer today after the rain. So, it was a positive and a negative out there. All in all, I just tried to hold it all together and I managed to score pretty well."

Play begins again Monday morning at 8 a.m. with 16 holes.

TEAM LEADERBOARD
MICHIGAN STATE 559
MICHIGAN 575
CENTRAL FLORIDA 582
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 584
MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE 585
KENTUCKY 589
BOWLING GREEN 599
DETROIT MERCY 608
UW-GREEN BAY 617
NORTHERN MICHIGAN 637

INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD

JAMES PIOT (MSU) 70-68=138

TROY TAYLOR (MSU) 69-70=139

CLEMENT CHARMASSON (UCF) 66-73=139

HUGO ARCHER (KY) 68-71=139

MATTHEW SCHAEFER (SDSU) 71-70=141

KEVIN JEGERS (MIDTEN) 71-70=141