GOLF | Gaels Through Two Rounds at ASU Thunderbird

Saint Mary's will look to bounce back in the final round of the tournament after a rocky start Friday.

PHOENIX — Saint Mary's had some struggles on the opening day of the ASU Thunderbird and after two rounds sit in 11th place out of a tough 14-team pack.

THE LEADERBOARD
Michael Slesinski and Blake Hathcoat lead the Gaels at 2-over heading into the final round and rank tied for 28th out of 80 competitors. Ethan Ashbrook is just one stroke back of his teammates and is tied for 35th. Rounding out the Gaels' lineup is Ethan Farnam at 6-over and Ryan Grauman at 7-over.

The host No. 2 Arizona State owns a commanding 9-stroke lead at 13-under going into Saturday and chasing behind is No. 7 Texas (4-under) and No. 1 Oklahoma (3-under). 10 of the 13 teams in the tournament are ranked in Golfstat's top-50 while Saint Mary's currently sits at No. 51.

The Gaels finished the afternoon at 11-over. Only six of the 14 squads shot under par between the first two rounds.

ASU's Chun An Yu is on top in the medalist leaderboard at 9-under and is four strokes ahead of the nation's top individual, OSU's Matthew Wolff, who sits tied for second. Marquette's Oliver Farrell, UCLA's Cole Madey, and Texas' Cole Hammer round out the top-6.

FIRST AND SECOND ROUND HIGHLIGHTS

Ashbrook had the best 18-hole score of the day for SMC as he shot even in the first round.
Saint Mary's combined for a 7-under score on the front 9 in the middle round.
Hathcoat was 2-under between the two rounds on the front 9.
Farnam and Grauman each shot even on par 3's on Friday, which placed them tied for second.
Hathcoat tied for seventh with eight birdies on the day.

UP NEXT: FINAL ROUND