Oct. 14, 2007

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Sophomore George Bryan IV shot a career-best 65 (-7) in day two of the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at The Ridges and led No. 6 South Carolina into 12th place. Bryan overcame a first-round 76 and carded a 73 in Sunday’s final round to finish in 18th place. The career round for Bryan, which started on the 10th tee, featured 11 birdies, including five on the back nine. He fell one stroke shy of tying the course and tournament single-round records.

Bryan entered Sunday’s final round in 11th place. He was steady through the first seven holes but had to rally from a quadruple bogey on No. 8 and a bogey on No. 9 to salvage his top-20 position. Calm under pressure, Bryan answered with four birdies in the first five holes of the back nine to finish at 73 (+1).

Senior Mark Anderson secured a top-25 finish with a three-round 216 (E). After recording a 75 in the opening round, Anderson turned in a 70 on Saturday and a 71 on Sunday. In the final round, he got on a roll with a birdie on No. 8 and proceeded to birdie three of the next four holes to get to three under. Two bogeys down the stretch brought him back to one under for the round.

Following his career-best outing earlier this week at The Brickyard Collegiate, junior Allen Koon finished 44th at The Ridges. He sandwiched a 75 between a 72 and a 73 in the first and last rounds, respectively. Koon sank three birdies in each round to finish the tournament at 220 (+4).

Sophomore Patrick Rada was the early leader for the Gamecocks, firing a career-best 68 in the first round. Rada’s play leveled off, however, as he shot 76 and 79 over the last two rounds to finish in 57th place. He posted five birdies in the opening round, including four on his final nine holes. Rada battled in the final round, turning in six bogeys and a double bogey with just one birdie.

Making his season debut, senior Warren Thomas rounded out the team with a 79th-place finish at 231. Thomas’ tournament featured a second-round 74 (+2), which included four birdies. Like Rada, Thomas’ final round was marred by six bogeys and a double bogey with his lone birdie coming on No. 8.

Virginia Tech and North Carolina tied for the tournament’s top spot at 852 (-12) with the Hokies taking the title based on the event’s tie-breaker rule, which compared the score of the fifth player on both teams. Record low scores in round two punctuated the three-day event as Tennessee’s Chris Paisley matched the course record of 64 (-8) and Wake Forest turned in a tournament record 278 (-10) on Saturday. Paisley went on to claim individual medalist honors, finishing at 206 (-10), two strokes up on Maryland’s Chris Gold and Kent State’s John Hahn.

The Gamecocks take a week off before traveling to Windermere, Fla., to play in the Isleworth Invitational. Play at the Isleworth Country Club begins on Sun., Oct. 21.

FINAL TEAM SCORES
T1. North Carolina 289-280-283=852
T1. Virgina Tech 287-280-285=852
3. East Tennessee St. 282-283-289=854
4. Kent State 288-280-288=856
T5. Coastal Carolina 288-283-287=858
T5. Tennessee 290-278-290=858
7. Wake Forest 286-278-295=859
T8. Auburn 287-288-286=861
T8. Maryland 297-288-276=861
10. North Carolina State 294-285-286=865
11. Kentucky 283-295-291=869
12. South Carolina 291-284-296=871
13. UAB 294-285-296=875
14. Virginia 297-288-293=878
15. Vanderbilt 301-294-287=882