AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team has positioned itself well for the final round at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational. After competing in two rounds on Saturday, the Fighting Irish sit in fourth place with a 560 (-16), just three strokes shy of No. 3 nationally-ranked Oklahoma State in second, and one stroke off of No. 5 Illinois in third.
The Irish shot a season-best 275 (-13) in the second round to be in contention of a loaded 15-team field comprised of six programs in the top-25 and three in the top-10. The 13-under par also ties for the fifth-best team round in program history.
Individually, the Irish have three golfers in the tournament’s top-20, including Tucker Clark in 18th, Davis Chatfield in 12th and Palmer Jackson in seventh place.
Important to note, Irish fans can watch Sunday’s final round via the following live stream: Augusta Invitational – Live Stream Link. The third and final round is expected to commence around 8:15 a.m. EST.
ROUND ONE
Notre Dame shot a 285 (-3) to land in fourth place after round one. The Irish were led by Clark in round one, who fired off an opening-round 69 (-3), which tied his lowest outing of the young season. Clark totaled six birdies on Saturday morning, going two-under on the front and one-under on the back to move into the leaderboard top-7.
Jackson provided an under-par round for the Irish as well, carding a 71 (-1), which featured a bogey-free front-nine. In addition, Andrew O’Leary was poised for a big round until he ran into trouble via three straight bogeys on holes 6-8. O’Leary ultimately recorded a 72 (E).
Next, Davis Chatfield tallied an opening-round 73 (+1), while Taichi Kho notched a 75 (+3).
ROUND TWO
Palmer Jackson started round two on fire, carding a birdie, birdie, birdie, par, birdie, over the first five holes. The sophomore ultimately carded a 67 (-5), which was one shy of his career low. Jackson will start Sunday in a tie for seventh place with a six-under-par – which is two strokes off of second place and six off from first place.
Jackson wasn’t the only one to card a second-round 67 though, as senior Davis Chatfield matched it and jumped up 23 spots in the standings to land in 12th place with a four-under-par. Chatfield recorded six birdies over a nine-hole stretch.
Kho climbed 20 spots in the standings to land in 29th place after a second-round 69 (-3). The junior went three-under on the front-nine, which included birdies on four, six, eight and nine.
Clark once again counted his score toward the team total in round two, carding a 72 (E). As a result, the freshman dropped to 18th place with a three-under-par overall.
Lastly, O’Leary recorded a 75 (+3) to move into 48th place with a three-over-par.
— ND —