ATLANTA (Feb. 28) – Georgia Tech senior Matt Kuchar (Lake Mary, Fla.) surged from 18th to 6th Monday to help keep the top-ranked Yellow Jackets first in the San Juan Shoot Out at the 6,945-yard, par 72 Rio Mar Country Club in Rio Mar, P.R. Tech finished the second day with a six-under-par 282 and leads second place NC State by four strokes.
Kuchar carded a four-under 68, which tied Jonathan Byrd of Clemson for the the low round of the second day. Kuchar, the 1998 Haskins Player of the Year, now has a two-day total of 73-68141 and is four strokes back from the lead. Jacket Bryce Molder (Conway, Ark.) continues to pace the field with a seven-under 67-70137. He is vying to win his second straight tournament after tying Kuchar as the co-medalist at the Waikoloa Intercollegiate two weeks ago. Sophomore Kris Mikkelsen (Woodstock, Ga.) is tied for 27th at 72-73145, redshirt-freshman Troy Matteson (Austin, Texas) is tied for 30th at 75-71146 and senior Carlton Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) is tied for 51st at 72-77149.
“The four players who have counted for us each day have combined for 22 birdies each round, so we have played very well and also made some mistakes to be only 10 strokes under as a team,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “The course is in good shape and we just need to keep playing OK and avoid mistakes to have a chance to win.”
Play ends with 18 holes Tuesday with a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m.
Team Results Though Second Round1. Georgia Tech 284-282 - 5662. NC State 286-284 - 5703. Clemson 284-287 - 5714. Duke 286-286 - 5725. Wake Forest 287-286 - 5736. Northwestern 298-288 - 5777. North Carolina 289-290 - 5798. Kent 293-289 - 5829. Georgia 294-289 - 58310. Colorado 297-287 - 58411. Purdue 290-299 - 58912. East Tennessee State 294-299 - 593 Florida State 296-297 - 593 Virginia 301-292 - 59315. Minnesota 300-300 - 600Top 10 Individuals1. Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech 67-70 - 1372. Luke Donald, Northwestern 70-69 - 1393. Jonathan Byrd, Clemson 72-68 - 140 Martin LeMesurier, Minnesota 70-70 - 140 Leif Olson, Duke 71-69 - 1406. Matt Kuchar, Georgia Tech 73-68 - 141 Buck Williams, Wake Forest 71-70 - 141 Kris Hannah, Florida State 68-73 - 1419. Nick Cassini, Georgia 71-71 - 142 Bubba Watson, Georgia 71-71 - 142Georgia Tech Results1. Bryce Molder 67-70 - 137t-6. Matt Kuchar 73-68 - 141t-27. Kris Mikkelsen 72-73 - 145t-30. Troy Matteson 75-71 - 146t-51. Carlton Forrester 72-77 - 149
