McGovern carded eight birdies in his opening round.
Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/Mike McLaughlin
McGovern T-2nd After Opening-Round 64 at Princeton Invitational
4/8/2023 9:43:00 PM | Men's Golf
Lions (-2) tied for fourth heading into Sunday
PRINCETON, N.J. — Wyatt McGovern carded one of the lowest rounds in Columbia men's golf history, firing a 7-under-par 64 to open the Princeton Invitational. The tournament's first two rounds were contested Saturday at Springdale Golf Club.
Starting at the par-4 second, McGovern birdied five of his first six holes to quickly get to 4 under. Aside from his bogey at the par-5 fourth, the sophomore from Hillsborough, California was bogey-free the rest of the round. He birdied 13, 16 and 17 to get to 7 under and parred out at the 18th and his closing first.
McGovern's 64 matched Omer Salamat for the second-lowest round in program history and stands alone as the second-lowest in relation to par. Nathan Han owns both records with his 11-under-par 60 earlier this fall up at Lake Placid.
The players went straight into their second round, which saw McGovern bogey his opening second. He recovered by birdieing the one hole he bogeyed in his first round but suffered bogeys at seven and nine to climb to 2 over on his round. McGovern steadied himself with four straight pars before birdieing 14 and 16 for a second-round even-par 71.
The Lions (-2) are tied for fourth in the team competition. Not far behind McGovern is Han (-5) in solo fourth, who went 69-68 to continue his stellar junior campaign. The next-closest Lion in the team competition is Pat Healy (+3) in a tie for 42nd. DJ Francey (+8) and Alvin Kwak (+11) are just inside the top 70 in the 78-man field. Darren Pang (E) is tied for 23rd, competing as an individual.
Harvard (-13) holds a six-shot lead over tournament host Princeton (-7) in the 14-team field. Columbia and Yale (-2) are two shots behind Seton Hall (-4). Those five teams are the only ones under par for the tournament.
Sunday's final round is scheduled for a shotgun start at 10 a.m. ET. Live results will continue to be available on Golfstat.
FOLLOW THE LIONS:
For the latest on Columbia men's golf, follow @CULionsMGolf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
Starting at the par-4 second, McGovern birdied five of his first six holes to quickly get to 4 under. Aside from his bogey at the par-5 fourth, the sophomore from Hillsborough, California was bogey-free the rest of the round. He birdied 13, 16 and 17 to get to 7 under and parred out at the 18th and his closing first.
McGovern's 64 matched Omer Salamat for the second-lowest round in program history and stands alone as the second-lowest in relation to par. Nathan Han owns both records with his 11-under-par 60 earlier this fall up at Lake Placid.
The players went straight into their second round, which saw McGovern bogey his opening second. He recovered by birdieing the one hole he bogeyed in his first round but suffered bogeys at seven and nine to climb to 2 over on his round. McGovern steadied himself with four straight pars before birdieing 14 and 16 for a second-round even-par 71.
McGovern (-7) is in a two-way tie for second with Seton Hall's George Fricker. They both trail individual leader Brian Ma (-9) of Harvard, who posted rounds of 66 and 67 to grab the pole position heading into Sunday's final 18.6️⃣4️⃣ | Wyatt McGovern with a career-low round of 7-under 64 to start off the Princeton Invitational! #RoarLionRoar 🦁 pic.twitter.com/SUqSRPIvqX
— Columbia Men's Golf Team (@CULionsMGolf) April 8, 2023
The Lions (-2) are tied for fourth in the team competition. Not far behind McGovern is Han (-5) in solo fourth, who went 69-68 to continue his stellar junior campaign. The next-closest Lion in the team competition is Pat Healy (+3) in a tie for 42nd. DJ Francey (+8) and Alvin Kwak (+11) are just inside the top 70 in the 78-man field. Darren Pang (E) is tied for 23rd, competing as an individual.
Harvard (-13) holds a six-shot lead over tournament host Princeton (-7) in the 14-team field. Columbia and Yale (-2) are two shots behind Seton Hall (-4). Those five teams are the only ones under par for the tournament.
Sunday's final round is scheduled for a shotgun start at 10 a.m. ET. Live results will continue to be available on Golfstat.
FOLLOW THE LIONS:
For the latest on Columbia men's golf, follow @CULionsMGolf on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
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