March 1, 2008
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Taylor Hall fired a 1-under-par 71 Saturday, pacing Georgia Tech to an even-par team score of 288 and a move up to seventh place after 36 holes of the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R.
The sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets are 10 shots off the pace of No. 2 Alabama heading into Sunday’s final round at the 6,902-yard, par 72 River Course at the Westin Rio Mar Resort.
Hall, who did not count for Tech in Friday’s opening round, carded his fourth subpar round in 11 this year. Sophomore Chesson Hadley and red-shirt freshman Paul Haley each shot even-par 72, while junior Cameron Tringale counted a 1-over 73 for the Jackets.
Hadley, an All-American from Raleigh, N.C., who shared the first round lead with Alabama’s Matthew Swan, is in second place after 36 holes at 6-under-par 138, one stroke behind Swan, who fired a 71 Saturday. Gareth Shaw of East Tennessee State is another shot back at 5-under 139, and Texas’ Charlie Holland is fourth at 4-under 140.
The Crimson Tide posted the day’s best team score of 285, 3 under par, to take a two-shot lead over No. 4 Oklahoma State. Alabama is the only team under par for 36 holes (2-under 574), while the Cowboys (292 Friday) are at even-par 576. Duke holds third place at 1 over par, Michigan fourth at 2 over, Georgia fifth at 4 over, and ETSU sixth at 5 over.
The Yellow Jackets have a team total of 584, 8 over par, while Clemson, the first-round co-leader, fell back to eighth place after shooting 14 over par Saturday.
Tringale is Tech’s next highest individual, tied for 28th at 3-over 147.
PUERTO RICO CLASSICRio Grande, P.R., Westin Rio Mar Resort (River Course)Second-Round Results
TEAM SCORES 1 Alabama 289 285 574 -2 2 Oklahoma State 284 292 576 E 3 Duke 292 285 577 +1 4 Michigan 291 287 578 +2 5 Georgia 294 286 580 +4 6 East Tennessee St. 289 292 581 +5 7 Georgia Tech 296 288 584 +8 8 Clemson 284 302 586 +10 9 Virginia Tech 293 294 587 +11 Northwestern 290 297 587 +11 11 Texas 299 291 590 +14 Kent State 294 296 590 +14 13 NC State 296 298 594 +18 14 Minnesota 300 307 607 +31 15 Purdue 308 300 608 +32
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Matthew Swan, Alabama 66 71 137 -7 2 Chesson Hadley, Georgia Tech 66 72 138 -6 3 Gareth Shaw, ETSU 70 69 139 -5 4 Charlie Holland, Texas 72 68 140 -4 5 Tim Schaetzel, Michigan 72 70 142 -2 Michael Schachner, Duke 70 72 142 -2 Clayton Rask, Minnesota 70 72 142 -2 Mark Harrell, Alabama 75 67 142 -2 Hudson Swafford, Georgia 71 71 142 -2 David Markle, Kent State 71 71 142 -2 Darren Blair, NC State 70 72 142 -2
GEORGIA TECH SCORES 2 Chesson Hadley 66 72 138 T28 Cameron Tringale 74 73 147 T46 David Dragoo 76 74 150 T58 Paul Haley 80 72 152 T67 Taylor Hall 83 71 154