COLUMBUS, Ohio (Sept. 29, 2013) – Junior Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd, Wales) paced the ETSU men’s golf team on Sunday at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational, which is held at The Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course.  

Pugh is one of three golfers tied for ninth after finishing the day at 1-over-par 143. The Buccaneer golfer began the day with a 2-under 69 in round one, but after the clouds and wind rolled in midway through the second round, Pugh managed to card a 3-over 74. After playing the first three holes at 2-over in the first round, Pugh bounced back nicely by finishing the final 15 holes at 4-under to move into fifth. The Welshman registered birdies on No. 3, 5, 11 and 12 in the opener; however, Pugh couldn’t move up the leaderboard after beginning the second round by posting one of four birdies on his scorecard. On the day, Pugh was just one of seven golfers to record birdies on the par-4, 429-yard No. 3 and the par-4, 473-yard No. 11.

Unfortunately, as Pugh sits in the top-10, his other teammates couldn’t propel their way into contention as ETSU enters Monday’s final round in ninth at 31-over 599 (295-304). Sophomore Chris Hickman (Centreville, Md.) had a strong  showing to end the first round, but couldn’t carry the momentum into the second as he and fellow teammate Gudmundur Kristjansson (Reykjavik, Iceland) are tied for 36th at 10-over 152. Hickman, who was 5-over thru his first seven holes in the opener, finished the round at 3-under to post his 73, placing him in a tie for 19th. However, in round two, Hickman had eight bogeys to finish 8-over, moving him 17 slots down on the leaderboard.

California was the only team to finish under par on the day and the fifth-ranked Golden Bears hold a 12-shot thru 36 holes of play. Cal ended the day at 7-under 561 (281-280), while No. 10-ranked Oklahoma sits in second at 5-over 573 (291-282). Meanwhile, No. 6-ranked Oklahoma State and 2010 winner is in third at 9-over 577 (292-285) and defending champion Kent State is in fifth. The 19th-ranked Golden Flashes totaled a 23-over 591 (293-298) on Sunday.

Individually, Cal’s Brandon Hagy sits in first-place at 4-under-par 138 (71-67), while Oklahoma State’s Ian Davis and Hagy’s teammate Pace Johnson are at 3-under. Hagy’s 4-under 67 in round two tied for the lowest score on the day. Purdue’s Austin Eoff and Kent State’s Taylor Pendrith earned a share of the lead as they both posted a 67 in the opening round.

Monday’s final round gets underway at 8:15 a.m. The Bucs tee off at 9:05 and are paired with Ball State and host Ohio State.

Fans can follow all the action with live scoring be provided by GolfStat.com.  

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For more information on Buccaneer men’s golf, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s golf page.