Racers Within Striking Distance At OVC Golf

Round 2 Results I Round 3 Tee Times I Live Scoring I

The Murray State men's golf team goes into the final round of the 2016 Ohio Valley Conference Championship with a chance to post the program's fifth title and first since 2010.

But a championship day for MSU requires a bold and successful final round at the Shoals Golf Club in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on Wednesday.

When the dust cleared in round two, the Racers had rounds of 297-291 and a spot in fourth place at 588. The Racers begin the final round one shot from Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State who share second place at 587 and five shots off leader UT Martin at 583.

Murray State's Jared Gosser and Preston French led the way in round two each with a 1-under-par 71. Gosser had scores of 74-71=145 and was in fifth place, while French carded scores of 75-71=146 and was in sixth place.

Other MSU finishes included a ninth place spot for Duncan McCormick with scores of 72-76=148 and Brock Simmons with scores of 78-73=151 in 26^th place. Matthew Zakutney had scores of 76-81=157 and was in 46^th place

Belmont was in sixth place at 593 and Morehead State was in seventh place with a score of 595. The rest of the field was made up by Tennessee Tech (599), SIUE (607), Austin Peay (610), Tennessee State (620) and Eastern Illinois (630).

Round Two Notes
The Racers will begin play in Wednesday's final round at 9:40 a.m. when Zakutney hits the first shot. Simmons follows at 9:50 a.m., with McCormick at 10 a.m. French goes at 10:10 a.m., with Gosser playing the anchor at 10:20 a.m. The Racers fell back into the second-to-last tee wave and will play with Belmont and Morehead State. If MSU can score a good final round, they'll have to play the waiting game to see what the final three groups (UTM, JSU and EKU) finish.

The Racers have won OVC titles in 1971, 1987, 1991, 2010.

French (145) and Gosser (146) are MSU's best chance at winning the medalist honor. Both are six shots behind Will Salee of EKU who has carded scores of 72-68=140 and is the leader. UTM's Hunter Richardson is one shot behind after scores of 69-72=141.

For the OVC Championship, the Fighting Joe Course at The Shoals is playing to a par-72 (36-36) and to a length of 7,258 yards.

Murray State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Preston French

Jared Gosser

Duncan McCormick

Brock Simmons

Matthew Zakutney

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