Albin Bergstrom shot one-under on Saturday and is tied for second individually.
BROOKSVILLE (April 24, 2021) – The USF Bulls concluded round two of the American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship on Saturday just as they had after Friday’s opening round – sitting atop the leaderboard. On a gusty afternoon at Southern Hills Plantation Club, the Bulls shot four-over-par 292 to maintain an 11-shot advantage in the chase for their fifth conference title.
USF is 14-under after 36 holes, followed next by SMU at three-under. Wichita State is at even par after posting the best score of the day on Saturday – nine-under-par 279. Wichita State and SMU were the only two teams to shoot under par in round two.
Albin Bergstrom (Falsterbo, Sweden) and Kyle Flexsenhar (Lake Mary) will enter Sunday’s finale tied for second individually at five-under-par, and are three shots behind the leader.
After all five Bulls shot under par on Friday, Bergstrom was the lone member to card a round under par on Saturday. The sophomore shot one-under-par 71, tallying three birdies in round two. Flexsenhar was one-over-par 73 in round two.
Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach) opened round two with a birdie and pared the second hole before struggling over his next nine holes where he shot six-over. The freshman turned it on late though, shooting three-under over the final five holes to finish at +2 for the day. Nicholson is even after two rounds and tied for 11th individually.
Runchanapong Youprayong (Bangkok, Thailand) matched Nicholson’s round of 74 (+2) on Saturday and is also tied for 11th at even par after 36 holes.
Luke Gifford (Boca Raton) carded a 79 (+7) on Saturday and is still inside the top 20 individually after his stellar round of 66 (-6) on Friday.
Notable
· The Bulls tallied seven birdies over the final four holes and collectively shot four-under par to keep their tournament lead at double digits.
Quotable
Head coach Steve Bradley on the results in round two: “We didn’t hit the ball well today, but the conditions played a part in that. When we made the turn, that wind really picked up, and we knew it was going to be blowing in our face hard for the last eight or nine holes. Despite that, I’m really proud of the way our guys finished over the last few holes. The leaderboard could have been a lot closer today if we hadn’t come up with some big birdies late.”
On the outlook and game plan heading into the final round: “I’d like to see us keep our composure a little better than we did today. On Friday, we got off to a great start, and were able to carry that momentum throughout the day and build the lead we did. Today, we were paired with Memphis who played really well, and they were hitting some putts that didn’t fall for us, and we let that affect us some. One of the hardest things to do in golf is go out there after a round like we posted yesterday, and try to forget about it, and just stay in the moment, but that’s human nature. Tomorrow is another new day, and we’ll need to go out there with the slate wiped clean and play a good round of golf.”
Up Next
The 2021 American Men’s Golf Championship concludes with round three on Sunday. Due to forecast weather, the tee times have been altered for the final round. The top four teams, including USF, will tee off at 8:30 a.m. in foursomes on the front nine, while the remaining teams will follow suit on the back nine at 8:30.
The final round of the AAC Championship will be aired live on ESPN+ with coverage expected to begin at 11 a.m.
About USF Men’s Golf
USF men’s golf program has captured 16 conference titles and seen players earn 18 All-America honors. From 2015-18 the Bulls captured four consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship titles in wire-to-wire fashion, had three individual conference champions and have earned seven straight trips to NCAA Regionals. The program is led by Steve Bradley, who has been named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times since taking over the program in 2014. The Bulls have posted 19 tournament wins under Bradley entering the 2021 season, by far the most under any coach in program history.
Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
– #GoBulls –
