Feb. 29, 2008
ATLANTA –
Chesson Hadley fired a 6-under-par 66 Friday and is tied for the individual lead, but Georgia Tech stands 12 shots back, in 11th place after the first round of the Puerto Rico Classic golf tournament in Rio Grande, P.R.
Hadley, a sophomore from Raleigh, N.C., covered the back nine in 30 strokes on the way to his second-lowest round of the year. It was his ninth round of 16 this year in the 60s and his 14th round of par or better.
He is tied for first place with Alabama’s Matthew Swan (35-31), two strokes ahead of Phillip Mollica of Clemson (68) and three clear of Oklahoma State teammates Rickie Fowler and Trent Leon (69 each).
Clemson and Oklahoma State are tied for the team lead after posting 4-under-par scored of 284. Alabama and East Tennessee State are tied for third, five strokes back at 1-over-par 289. Northwestern (290) holds fifth, followed by Michigan (291), Duke (292) and Virginia Tech (293). NC State and top-ranked Georgia are tied for ninth at 296.
Tech and NC State are tied for 11th at 8-over-par 296. All-American Cameron Tringale shot 74 for the Yellow Jackets Friday, while David Dragoo (76) and Paul Haley (80) each counted toward Tech’s team total. Taylor Hall struggled to an 83.
The second round is set for Saturday, the final round Sunday.
PUERTO RICO CLASSICRio Grande, Puerto RicoFirst-round Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Clemson 284 -4 Oklahoma State 284 -4 3 Alabama 289 +1 East Tennessee St. 289 +1 5 Northwestern 290 +2 6 Michigan 291 +3 7 Duke 292 +4 8 Virginia Tech 293 +5 9 Kent State 294 +6 Georgia 294 +6 11 NC State 296 +8 Georgia Tech 296 +8 13 Texas 299 +11 14 Minnesota 300 +12 15 Purdue 308 +20
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Chesson Hadley, Georgia Tech 66 -6 Matthew Swan, Alabama 66 -6 3 Phillip Mollica, Clemson 68 -4 4 Rickie Fowler, Oklahoma St. 69 -3 Trent Leon, Oklahome St. 69 -3 6 Michael Schachner, Duke 70 -2 Clayton Rask, Minnesota 70 -2 Gareth Shaw, ETSU 70 -2 David Lipsky, Northwestern 70 -2 Darren Blair, NC State 70 -2 11 Kyle Stanley, Clemson 71 -1 Rhys Enoch, ETSU 71 -1 Hudson Swafford, Georgia 71 -1 David Markle, Kent State 71 -1 David Ludlow, Kent State 71 -1 Victor Almstrom, Minnesota 71 -1
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T1 Chesson Hadley 36-30 – 66 T34 Cameron Tringale 36-38 – 74 T53 David Dragoo 38-38 – 76 T71 Paul Haley 40-40 – 80 78 Taylor Hall 43-40 – 83
