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April 21, 2007

New London, NC--Tanner Ervin fired a one-under par 71 and Kyle Stanley and David May had even-par rounds to lead Clemson to an even-par 288 team score in the second round of the ACC golf tournament at The Old North State Club in New London, NC. Clemson stands in third place heading into the final round on Sunday, but Larry Penley's Tigers are just three shots off the lead.

Georgia Tech had a 283 team score on Saturday, the best team score by any team so far in the event, and jumped into the lead with a 36-hole score of 570. Duke is second at 572, followed the by Tigers at three-under-par 573. North Carolina and Virginia Tech are tied for fourth at 575, meaning five teams are within five shots of the lead heading into Sunday's final round. At one point late in the round on Saturday there were five teams within a shot of each other.

Ervin continued his consistent play with his 71 on Saturday, the only Clemson player under par in the second round. He was two-over-par for his first five holes, but finished strong with birdies on the 12, 13th and 18th holes. He is in 10th place entering Sunday's final round.

Stanley had an even par on Saturday, including a 10-foot putt for birdie on the final hole. It gave Clemson birdies in the last two groups on the final hole, something Penley hopes will continue on Sunday. Stanley had a 68 in the first round to tie for the lead and his two-day total of 140 is just one shot off the lead of 139 held by North Carolina's Martin Ureta. For the day, Stanley had four birdies, but a double bogey on the second hole kept him from an under par day.

David May also continued his consistent play with a second consecutive 72. He stands in a tie for 14th place entering Sunday. May made par on each of the first nine holes before making a bogey on the 10th. He then made consecutive birdies on 11 and 12 before making bogey on the par four 15th. May has played The Old North State Club in five-under-par for his five career rounds in the ACC Tournament.

Freshman Sam Saunders had a second consecutive 73 on Saturday and stands at 146 for the two rounds, good enough for 24th place. Two holes hurt Saunders's round as he made a triple bogey on the par-five fourth and had a double bogey on the ninth when he got on the green in three and three-putted. But, he had five birdies on the day. The most impressive came on the par three 14th hole when he chipped in from 35 yards away from the top of a hill that was 30 feet above the hole.

Phillip Mollica continued to struggle with wrist injury and shot an 81 in the second round. He did finish strong with a birdie on the final hole.

Sunday's final round could come down to the final hole. Georgia Tech made good use of the par five 18th on Saturday when the Yellow Jackets were a combined four under par. That performance included an eagle three by Taylor Hall, Georgia Tech's number-five player. It allowed the Yellow Jackets to vault into the lead heading into the final round.

"We made an excellent comeback today," said Penley, who is looking for his ninth ACC Tournament Championship. "We struggled for the first nine holes and we were six over par for the round at one point. But, we made some key birdies coming in, including two on the final hole (Ervin and Stanley). There are five teams together at the top of the leader board heading into tomorrow so it should be an exciting day of golf."