Texas A&M paces SEC Men's Championship after 36-holes

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, SC (April 21, 2017) - Friday was jus the beginning of a long four days of golf. For the first time the SEC Men's Championship will feature two days of match play following 54-holes of stroke play. Day one of the tournament at the Seaside Course of Sea Island Golf Club included 36-holes of golf and so far No. 18 Texas A&M is pacing the field. The Aggies, 5-under, currently have three players residing in the top-10 of the individual standings. They were led on Friday by Chandler Phillips and Cameron Champ, both of whom are 3-under and part of a fourth place tie. Phillips combined rounds of 67-70 on Friday while for Champ it was tallies of 66-71. Also in the top-10 for Texas A&M is the 2-under and tied for eighth Brandon Smith. The medalist lead currently belongs to Alejandro Tosti of Florida. Tosti posted the round of the tournament so far, with an opening 6-under 64 that included seven birdies and one bogey. The only dropped shot during the round came on No. 17 but Tosti bounced back quickly with a closing birdie. On the frontside Tosti carded four birdies during a flawless 4-under 31 side. In the second round Tosti was able to turn in a 1-under round despite an early double-bogey. Behind Tosti in the medalist race comes Patrick Martin of Vanderbilt in second place at 6-under, Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss is third at 5-under. Heading into the final round of stroke play four players are sharing fourth at 3-under; Texas A&M teammates Phillips and Champ, plus Greyson Sigg of Georgia and Luis Gagne of LSU. Behind Texas A&M in the team standings are second place No. 3 Vanderbilt (-3), in third is No. 5 Florida (-2), fourth place is owned by No. 6 LSU (+2) while Alabama (+3); Missouri (+3) share fifth. The schedule for the rest of the week looks like this. On Saturday the final round of stroke play will be contested with the top-8 teams moving on. From there Sunday will feature quarterfinal and semifinal matches before the final is held on Monday.