April 4, 2015
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — University of Notre Dame men’s golf sophomore Matthew Rushton remained in the top 20 of the field on Saturday during the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course. On a day that saw the average score in the field increase by nearly two strokes from Friday’s first round, Rushton turned in a five-over-par 76 in challenging conditions to tie for 19th place at 145 (69-76).
As a team, Notre Dame drifted into 11th place overall after a second round score of 306. The Irish enter the third and final round at 597 (291-306).
Starting his round at the first hole, Rushton rolled in a birdie at the 414-yard par-4 to quickly move to one-under-par. Six bogeys the remainder of the way dropped Rushton back to three-over-par 145 overall with his second day 76. The Notre Dame sophomore closed his back nine with five straight pars as part of an inward score of three-over 39.
Senior Tyler Wingo remained in the field’s top 40 after carding a Saturday score of 79, tying for 39th place at 149 (70-79). Wingo’s cumulative score of three-under-par on the par-5 holes at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course leads all Notre Dame players, along with his 24 combined pars.
Sophomore Blake Barens notched a pair of birdies during his second 18 as part of a six-over 77, sharing 48th place at 151 (74-77). Freshman Thomas Steve turned in a second consecutive score of 78 (156, 71st place), while senior David Lowe shaved eight strokes off his round one total to post the top Notre Dame round of the day with a 75 (83-75=158).
No. 6 Vanderbilt maintained a three-shot lead after carding a three-over-par 287 on Saturday to post a team total of 567 (280-287). No. 15 Georgia Tech remained in second place at 570 (283-287), sharing runner-up honors with No. 27 Alabama (287-283). No. 21 Kennesaw State (283-295=578) sits in solo fourth, followed by No. 49 Louisville (289-290) and No. 44 East Tennessee State (291-288) tied for fifth place at 579.
The third and final round of the Mason Rudolph Championship is scheduled to begin with tee times off the first and 10th tees on Sunday at 8 a.m. (CT) at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course. The Notre Dame starting lineup will be off the 10th tee between 8:15 and 8:51 to begin the final round. Live results will be available via GolfStat.com.
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