Defending champion Albin Bergstrom ninth at -4, six shots back
BROOKSVILLE, FLA., APRIL 23, 2022 – USF sophomore Run Youprayong (Bangkok, Thailand) posted six birdies on the day as he recorded a 5-under par 67 and jumped into fourth on Day 2 of the 2022 American Athletic Conference Golf Championship at Southern Hills Plantation in Brooksville, Fla.
The USF men’s golf team started the day in third and ended the day there after posting a 1-under par 287 total on a day when several putts grazed the edge and failed to fall. No. 2-seed SMU posted an 11-under par 277 on Saturday to jump Houston for the tournament lead with a 17-under total of 559. Houston stood second at 16-under 560 and the Bulls are tied for third with Wichita State at 3-under 573.
Defending champion Albin Bergstrom (Falsterbo, Sweden) was solid once again with a 1-under par round of 71, but didn’t see enough putts fall to stay on pace with the leaders and enters the final round ninth at 4-under 140. The USF junior posted two birdies and one bogey on the day and enters the final round six shots back.
SMU’s Nathan Petronzio paced the field with an opening round 68 and followed that up with a 6-under 66 on Saturday to maintain his lead at 10-under par 134, one stroke ahead of Houston’s Marcus Wochner at -9. Youprayong stood tied for fourth with a two-round total of 6-under 138.
The tournament concludes Sunday with 18 holes on the par 72, 7,221-yard Southern Hills Plantation course. ESPN+ will stream much of the final round.
Bergstrom, who shot a final round 66 in 2021 to come from three shots off the lead and earn the Bull’s fourth AAC individual title, increased his program-record to 29 rounds of par or better on the year and is on pace for his eighth top 10 finish of the year.
Junior Luke Gifford (Boca Raton) was two-under par on the front nine, but recorded two bogeys and a double bogey on the back nine to post a 2-over 74 and stands T20 at +2 for the tournament. Sophomore Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach) recorded a 3-over 75 and stands T33 at +5 for the tournament. Freshman Shubham Jaglan (Delhi, India) entered the line-up for the Bulls on Saturday and shot a 6-over 78.
The Bulls claimed their fifth conference championship in the last six seasons in 2021, posting a five-stroke win over SMU.
NOTABLE
• Junior Albin Bergstrom currently has the Bulls’ best-ever career scoring average (70.26), more than a stroke better than Chase Koepka’s previous mark of 71.53.
• Bergstrom’s 69.23 season scoring average is on pace to break his own USF record of 70.00 set in 2018-19.
• Bergstrom reached as high as the No. 4 ranking in early March and currently sits at No. 21. Chase Koepka owns the USF record of a No. 11 final season national scorer rating.
• Bergstrom is the highest ranked player the American Athletic Conference and third in the state of Florida.
• Bergstrom has 29 par or better rounds on the year and 85 on his career, setting a USF career mark and season record.
• Bergstrom also owns USF career records for scoring average (70.45), tournament low round (63, 2019-20), tournament low round to par (-9, 2019-20), tournament low 36-hole total (133, -11, 2018-19), and is second in wins (3) and low 54-hole total (201, -11, 2018-19).
About USF Men’s Golf
USF men’s golf program has captured 17 conference titles, including in 2021, and have seen players earn 19 All-America honors. The Bulls have won five of the last six American Athletic Conference Tournament championships in wire-to-wire fashion, winning four-consecutive from 2015-18. The Bulls have had four individual conference champions, including Albin Bergstrom in 2021, and gone on to earn eight straight NCAA Regionals appearances, including a 6th place finish in NCAA Championship match-play in 2015. USF is led by Steve Bradley, who has been named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five times since taking over the program in 2014. The Bulls have posted 20 tournament wins under Bradley entering the 2021-22 season, by far the most under any coach in program history.
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