Mizzou Men's Golf in Second After Strong Day 1 at Turning Stone
9/1/2019 6:31:00 PM | Men's Golf
Franssen leads the Tigers at 6-under par, tied for third individually
VERONA, New York - Mizzou Men's Golf welcomed the 2019-20 season with an impressive showing in the first two rounds of the Turning Stone-Tiger Intercollegiate at Kaluhyat Course in Verona, New York. After Sunday's 36 holes of competition, the Tigers (6-under par 570) currently sit in second place behind tournament leader North Carolina (23-under par 553). Head coach Mark Leroux's squad will look to make an aggressive move up the leaderboard in the tournament's final round on Monday.
The Black & Gold came out firing in the morning's opening round, as four out of five golfers in the Tigers' competitive lineup shot even-par or better through the first third of the tournament. Senior Rory Franssen (Inverness, Scotland) delivered a stellar performance in the first two rounds of his final Turning Stone-Tiger Intercollegiate with a 6-under 138, 10-birdie day. Seeking his first career tournament victory, Franssen sits tied for third place and is a mere four strokes off the lead.
Fellow senior Ricky Sanders (The Hague, Netherlands) also put on a show in his last Turning Stone appearance as a Tiger. After shooting even-par in the first round, Sanders' clubs roared to life in the afternoon, carding three birdies on the front nine and another two on the back to finish Sunday at 4-under 140. Like Franssen, an individual title on Monday would be Sanders' first of his Mizzou career.
Just behind Franssen and Sanders, junior Jack Parker (Columbia, Mo.) is currently tied for 11th following his even-par outing on Sunday. A final standing of 10th place or better on Monday would mark the Columbia native's first-ever top-10 finish.
Sophomore Tommy Boone (Plano, Tx.) was lights out in the first round of his Turning Stone debut, racking up six birdies en route to the second-best 18-hole score of his career and a new career-low in an opening round (2-under 70). The Texan struggled in the tournament's afternoon session, ending the day with a 7-over 151 and will look to rebound on Monday morning.
Similar to Boone, freshman Ross Steelman (Columbia, Mo.) shot an outstanding opening round of golf in his first tournament in Verona. Steelman's trio of consecutive birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes secured a 2-under 70 in his premiere round of collegiate golf. However, the freshman fell into a slump in the second half of the day and finished at 7-over (151) but has the chance to get back on track in the tournament's closing round.
Freshmen Viktor Einarsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) and Yu-Ta Tsai (Taipei, Taiwan), both competing as individuals, finished the day T-43 and T-67, respectively.
Mizzou tees off its final 18 holes at Kaluhyat Course on Monday at 8 a.m. ET. Live results will continue to be available on BirdieFire throughout the closing round.
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