ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Seniors Lee Hodges and Jonathan Hardee finished in the top 10 Wednesday to lead the No. 6 Alabama men’s golf team to a fifth-place showing after the first 18 holes at the Southeastern Conference Championship at the par-70, 7,005-yard Sea Island Golf Club Seaside Course layout.
Alabama ended the day with a 3-over par 283.
No. 4 Vanderbilt leads after carding a 4-under par 276. No. 50 Tennessee and No. 9 Auburn are tied for second at even par 280, followed by No. 11 LSU (281).
Ole Miss is tied for eighth, while Mississippi State is tied for 12th.
LSU’s Luis Gagne holds the clubhouse lead following a 4-under 66.
The top eight teams after 54 holes will advance to the match play portion of the event. The second round will take place today. Stroke play will wrap up Friday. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be Saturday. The championship match will take place Sunday morning (SEC Network).
Hodges is tied for second after a 2-under par 68. It is the 13th time in his last 16 rounds played that the Ardmore, Tennessee, native scored par or better, and the 12th time this year he has recorded a round in the 60s, which is tied for tops on the team.
Hardee is tied for eighth after carding a 1-under 69 — his best round of the spring season. The Greer, South Carolina, native collected 10-straight bogey-free holes to begin the day on the way to matching Hodges team low of four birdies on the day.
Junior Davis Riley and freshman Wilson Furr are tied for 36th. They shot rounds of 3-over par 73, while freshman Davis Shore is tied for 44th at 4-over par 74.
For MSU senior Taylor Bibbs shot a 1-over-71. He shot 2-under on the back nine after sinking an eagle on 15 and is tied for 18th.
“I’m really proud of our fight,” MSU men’s golf coach Dusty Smith said. “There was a point in the round where it could have gotten away from us but we were able to battle and create some momentum down the stretch.”
Sophomore Garrett Johnson was the next-best competitor for the Bulldogs, firing a 2-over-72.
Sophomore Peng Pichaikool and Senior Taylor Grant shot 5-over-75s. Pichaikool began his day firing a 1-under on the back nine, but couldn’t keep the momentum on the front side to finish.
Freshman Cameron Clarke shot an 8-over-78 to fill out the MSU scorecard.
Ole Miss freshman Cecil Wegener fired an opening-round 70 to lead the Rebels.
No. 34 Ole Miss is tied with No. 38 South Carolina at 8-over (288). Ole Miss grinded out pars throughout the day, making 58 of them to rank third among the 14-team field.
Senior Kerry Sweeney followed Wegener with a 2-over 72. He got off to a shaky start at 3-over through six holes, but the veteran battled back by playing the last 12 at 1-under par.
Juniors Beau Briggs and Braden Thornberry posted 73s (+3) to chip in to the team score. Briggs bogeyed the first two holes before righting the ship.
Thornberry, the No. 1 ranked amateur in the world, had an uncharacteristic round above his 69.63 stroke average.
“We didn’t get off to the start that we would’ve liked, but I was very proud of the way that we hung in throughout the day and gave ourselves a chance to put a good round together,” Ole Miss coach Chris Malloy said. “We are in a good position to go out and post a solid round tomorrow and move up the leaderboard going into the final day of stroke play.”
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