OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Sophomore Tyler McCumber shot a 2-under 68 Friday in the opening round of the Olympia Fields Invitational to lead the Florida men’s golf into a first-place tie with defending NCAA champion Augusta State.
Individually, McCumber finds himself in a tie for fourth place and trails first-round leader Bud Cauley of Alabama by two shots. McCumber started out well, carding three birdies in the first 12 holes. After a bogey on the 16th hole, he shot even par for the last two holes.
“Tyler has been playing great,” said Florida coach Buddy Alexander. “It is nice to see him winning in the tournament because he has made a lot of improvement from his freshman to sophomore year.”
Senior Bank Vongvanij and newcomer Michael Furci both carded 70s and were tied for 13th. Redshirt senior Andres Echavarria finished in a 34th-place tie after shooting a 72, while sophomore Phillip Choi carded an opening 74.
“Today was a good day for us, but it is just one day,” Alexander said. “We are playing a great field and we have some great teams on our heels, so right now we are just focusing on tomorrow.”
OLYMPIA FIELDS INVITATIONAL
At Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club
Par 70, yards 7,205
Team scores: T1. Florida 280 (E) and Augusta State 280 (E); 3. Ohio State 282 (+2); 4. Alabama 285 (+5); T5. Indiana 286 (+6), Oklahoma State 286 (+6) and Duke 286 (+6); T8. Stanford 287 (+7) and Illinois 287 (+7); 10. Texas 289 (+9); T11. California 290 (+10) and Northwestern 290 (+10); 13. Purdue 291 (+11); 14. Arizona State 296 (+16); 15. Florida State 304 (+24).
Top 10 individuals: 1. Bud Cauley (Alabama) 66 (-4); T2. Bo Hoag (Ohio State) and Yaroslav Merkujov (Duke) 67 (-3); T4. Tyler McCumber (Florida) 68 (-2), Dan Charen (Ohio State) 68 (-2), Eric Chun (Northwestern) 68 (-2), Mitchell Krywulycz (Augusta State) 68 (-2); T8. Chris DeForest (Illinois) 69 (-1), Max Homa (California) 69 (-1), Bobby Hudson (Texas) 69 (-1), Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State) 69 (-1) and Andrew Yun (Stanford) 69 (-1).
Florida scores: T4. Tyler McCumber 68 (-2); T13. Bank Vongvanij 70 (E) and Michael Furci 70 (E); T34. Andres Echavarria 72 (+2); T40. Phillip Choi 74 (+4).