OPELIKA, AL (February 25, 2019) - Brandon Mancheno (Jacksonville, Fla.) shot an afternoon 4-under 68 on the Grand National Lake Course to lead the host Auburn Tigers to a nine-shot lead entering the final round of the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner.

The Tigers were eight under as a team in the afternoon round, erasing a 10-shot deficit. British Amateur champion Jovan Rebula (South Africa) added a 69, with Trace Crowe (70) and Jacob Solomon (73) rounding out the counting scores.

"The guys came out and played very well today," Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. "We did what we had to do knowing the wind was not blowing as bad as yesterday. Now we'll have a chance to go win a golf tournament tomorrow."

Mancheno very nearly won the NCAA Championship last spring at Karsten Creek in Oklahoma, reaching a playoff before falling to Broc Everett of Augusta University.

Scoring was considerably tougher in the morning as a cold front swept through the area, bringing gusty north winds. Arkansas State was the first-round leader after shooting an impressive 283, led by Joel Wendin (Sweden) with an amazing 66.

But Wendin and the Red Wolves would come back to the field in the afternoon, falling to third after shooting 300. Wendin struggled to a 79 and currently sits in 9th place.

SMU, led by former U.S. Junior champion Noah Goodwin (Corinth, Tex.), will attempt to chase down the Tigers from nine shots behind when play wraps up on Tuesday morning.

Josh Edgar of Australia and Georgia State is the individual leader, with rounds of 68-70 putting him four shots ahead of Mancheno.

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