Baylor goes low to take Linger Longer Invitational Lead

EATONTON, GA (March 19, 2017) -- The temperatures were chilly but with sunny skies above No. 7 Baylor turned in a 14-under first round to take the lead at the Linger Longer Invitational. On Sunday at Great Waters Golf Course Baylor received top-25 play from four players in their lineup. A pair of Bears turned in 5-under 67's and they are part of a logjam that is tied for fourth. Braden Bailey reached 5-under with a seven birdie and two bogey round that saw him close his Sunday performance with consecutive circles. The second Baylor Bear to reach 5-under was Matthew Perrine who bogeyed just once while also birdieing on four occasions and eagling the par-5 12th. Cooper Dossey was strong in the first round as well for Baylor as he turned in a 3-under 69 to share 13th while Garrett May shot a 1-under 71 to join a group in 21st. In the individual standings there are three players sharing the lead at 6-under. The group is comprised of Kyle Mueller (Michigan), Luke Moser (Troy) and Chris Guglielmo (Kennesaw State). Mueller reached the lead with a fantastic second nine. After turing in 1-under 35, Mueller put together a flawless 5-under 31 on the back nine. Mueller rolled in birdies on Nos. 12-14 and then the final two holes. For Moser it was a similar story. Moser fell into the black with a 3rd hole bogey but quickly rebounded with 4th and 5th hole birdies before really catching fire with five birdies in six holes from Nos. 10-15. The final member of the lead, Chris Guglielmo, got there with two sides of 3-under 33. On the day Guglielmo birdied seven-times and bogeyed once. Guglielmo birdied four-times on the front and three-times on the back. For the lead trio the advantage will be a slim one as a crowded leaderboard sits just behind them. A quartet of players --Greyson Sigg of Georgia, Bryce Hendrix of UNCG, Bailey and Perrine-- are tied four fourth at 5-under with another five players just one shot further back at 4-under in a tie for eighth. That group includes Virginia's Derek Bard. Overall 29 players turned in under-par first rounds. In the team standings Troy, UNCG and Michigan are sharing second at 8-under while No. 2 Virginia, Kennesaw State and Augusta are tied for fifth at 5-under.