Meronk tied for fourth after first two rounds in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Sept. 28, 2014) – Junior Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) shot an even-par 142 and the ETSU men’s golf team sits in third place after the first two rounds of the Jack Nicklaus Invitational, which finished Sunday night from the Ohio State University Golf Club – Scarlet Course.

Meronk, who is coming off his first collegiate win last week at the Inverness Intercollegiate, began the day with a 3-under 68 and followed that up with a 3-over 74, moving him into a three-way tie for fourth. In the opening round, Meronk played the front nine at 3-under to finish in second-place with his 68; however, in the second round, the Buccaneer only carded a pair of birdies and posted five bogeys which dropped him two spots on the leaderboard.

Despite Meronk’s slight dip in the second round, the Bucs moved up one spot as a team after registering a 4-over 288. ETSU entered the round in fourth, but after getting strong play by Rhys Pugh (Pontypridd, Wales), Mateusz Gradecki (Oborniki Śląskie, Poland), and Gudmundur Kristjansson (Reykjavik, Iceland), the Blue and Gold moved into third place. Overall, the Bucs totaled a team score of 14-over-par 582 (294-288) on Sunday and enter Monday’s final round eight shots back of Ohio State and two strokes behind Purdue.

Ohio State, the tournament host, held a three stroke lead after round one and the Buckeyes extended their margin to six shots after the conclusion of day one. The 28th-ranked Buckeyes sit atop the leaderboard at 6-over-par 574 (283-291), while No. 45 Purdue is in second at 12-over-par 580 (288-292).

Individually, Kansas State’s Matt Green is the leader at 2-under-par 140, while holding a one shot lead over Purdue’s Stuart Macdonald and Ohio State’s Tee-k Kelly.

Meanwhile, following a solid second round score of 1-under 70, Pugh moved up 17 spots and is tied for 13th at 3-over-par 145 (75-70). Pugh began the second round with back-to-back birdies and was sitting at 4-under for the round after a birdie on No. 14. Unfortunately, the Welshman bogeyed three of his final five holes, moving him back to 1-under for the round.

Other ETSU notables included Gradecki and Kristjansson. Gradecki is tied for 19th at 4-over-par 146 (75-71) and Kristjansson is tied for 39th at 8-over 150 (77-73). Gradecki recorded two birdies in the second round, while his only hiccup came on the par-4, 14th as he walked away with a double-bogey.

The Bucs look to claim their second straight tournament title as the final round concludes Monday. ETSU is grouped with Purdue and Ohio State, and tee off at 9 a.m.

Live scoring will be provided on BirdieFire.com.

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