April 16, 2005

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Coming off their first team tournament title of the season, sophomore Tyler Dunn (Godfrey, Ill. / Alton HS) and junior Ben Scott (Lancashire, United Kingdom / St. Theodore's HS) have paced the Missouri men's golf team to a first-day lead after the first two rounds of the Boilermaker Invitational, held Saturday at the Kampen Course.

Playing on the track that hosted last year's NCAA Central Regional, the Tigers have a five-stroke lead on Indiana and an eight-stroke advantage over host Purdue following four-man aggregate team scoring rounds of 1-over-par 289 in the morning and 1-under 287 in the afternoon. Mizzou was the only team to post a round under par in either round on Saturday.

Dunn, who is playing in just his third tournament of the season, is extending a solid two-week span that saw him earn his first career top-10 finish last time out at the Belmont Invitational. He opened with a 1-under 71 before closing with a career-best-tying 2-under 70 in the afternoon. Dunn is just one stroke behind leader Pariya Junhasavasdikul of Purdue, who had matching 70's to begin the tournament. He has now shot below par in four of his last five rounds.

Right behind those two is Scott, who followed an even-par 72 with a 2-under 70 in the afternoon to sit in a three-way tie for third with Iowa's Jon Feldick and Indiana's Jeff Overton, who had the individual lead at mid-day after a 4-under 68 before faltering with an afternoon 74.

Junior Chris Mabry (Leawood, Kan. / Bishop Miege HS) and sophomore John Kelly (St. Louis, Mo. / Christian Brothers College HS) bolstered the Mizzou scoring efforts to give the Tigers four of the top 16 players in the individual standings. Mabry improved on a morning 74 with an even-par 72 in the afternoon and is in a tie for 12th place, while Kelly shot that total in the morning before closing with a 75 to stand tied for 16th. Sophomore Shawn Jasper (Marthasville, Mo. / Francis Howell North HS / Newman Univ.) capped a strong Mizzou day with rounds of 76 and 82 and is tied for 58th.

While the Tigers had the best round of the tournament so far in the afternoon, Head Coach Mark Leroux said the team could have gone much lower. "We had a bunch of putts that didn't drop in the second round," he said. "It could have been 10- or 12-under if just a few would've fallen."

Commenting on the ability for Dunn to crack a lineup crowded with five players that have shot 68 or lower in a single round this season, Leroux said, "maybe he just needed a chance to get in the lineup, and once he got in, he didn't want to leave. It's a good problem to have" that many players shooting so low.

Mizzou will begin the final 18 holes with Purdue and Indiana starting at 8:40 a.m. Sunday.

MIZZOU MEN'S GOLF
at the Boilermaker Invitational - West Lafayette, Ind.
Kampen Course - 7,209 yards / par 72

TEAM STANDINGS THROUGH 36 of 54 HOLES (top five) - 1. Missouri, 289-287--576; 2. Indiana, 288-293--581; 3. Purdue, 291-293--584; 4. Illinois, 290-298--588; 5. (tie), Iowa State, 295-294--589 and Iowa, 297-292--589.

INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top five plus other MU finishers) - 1. Pariya Junhasavasdikul (Purdue), 70-70--140; 2. Tyler Dunn (MU), 71-70--141; 3. (tie), Jeff Overton (Indiana), 68-74--142; Ben Scott (MU), 72-70--142; Jon Feldick (Iowa), 70-72--142; T12. Chris Mabry (MU), 74-72--146; T16. John Kelly (MU), 72-75--147; T58. Shawn Jasper (MU), 76-82--158.