Mynatt's strong finish pulls Eagles up to sixth after second round of SAC Championship
CHUCKEY, Tenn. - Jake Mynatt shot two-under on the second day of the 2022 SAC Men's Golf Championship, moving up to tenth-place after the second round.
VIDEO: Sights and Sounds from Round Two
CHUCKEY, Tenn. - Jake Mynatt shot two-under on the second day of the 2022 SAC Men's Golf Championship, moving up to tenth-place after the second round.
The junior opened the day with an eagle on the par five first hole, before carding a double bogey on the third hole and a triple bogey on the eighth hole to finish the front-nine with a one-over score. After double bogeying the eleventh hole, Mynatt finished the second round strong, carding three birdies and an eagle on the final four holes to finish his second round with a two-under 70. His 142, two-under total score has him tied with fellow Eagle Jonathan Nielsen for tenth.
Mynatt finished the second round with the best score on par fives with a five-under and an average score of 3.75. Through two rounds, the Knoxville native has shot six-under with an average score of 4.25 on the longest holes at the Graysburg Hills course.
"Jake had a crazy day today," says Director of Golf Randy Wylie. "He shot two triples and two doubles and still finished two-under today. He fought back hard and had a hot finish to put a good number on the board and I'm really proud of him."
As a team, the no. 2/4 Eagles moved up one spot to sixth in the team standings, shooting an even-par 288 for the second day in a row. Carson-Newman was one of just two teams to card multiple eagles on the course today, as howling winds in the afternoon affected play at the Graysburg Hills Course. The convocation improved by two strokes on the back-nine from yesterday, shooting four-over as a team on the final holes compared to six-over in the first round.
The Eagles sit four strokes behind Lenoir-Rhyne in fifth, and a whole 25 strokes behind no. 25 Queens. The Royals sit in first-place over no. 3/5 LMU by 16 strokes after shooting a 14-under 274 in the second round.
"It was a gritty day," says Wylie. "It was tough to play today and was really windy. We've shot even both days but today's even is a heck of a lot better than yesterday. Yesterday we should've been under-par, but we'll take even today because in this weather that's pretty solid playing."
Nielsen and Mynatt are both tied for tenth-place after both shooting two-under 70s in the second round. Oddly enough, both men shot even-par 72s in the opening round and have a total score of a two-under 142 so far in the tournament.
Nielsen carded three birdies in the second round, with his lone blemish being a bogey on the tenth hole. The sophomore had the second-best score on par fours in the second round, shooting two-under with an average score of 3.80.
Jackson Tyler and Will Collins both sit tied for 24th with a total two-round score of a two-over 146. Tyler finished the second round the same way he did the first, with a one-over 73. The senior's 15 pars were the most in the second round and his 26 total are the third-most in the field for the tournament.
Collins fell to 24th after shooting a three-over 75 in the second round. The junior was just one-over after the first nine holes, but carded a pair of bogeys on the back-nine.
Alex Hodge moved down to a tie for 55th after shooting a six-over 78 in the second round. Despite three birdies, Hodge carded seven bogeys and one double bogey on his second day of play. The Knoxville native has shot an eleven-over 155 so far through two rounds.
"We have to keep fighting," says Wylie. "We dug ourselves into a hole in the first round. We need someone to play brilliantly, and we have guys that can do that. If one guy can go deep tomorrow, we have a chance to make a charge and finish strong."
Both Ollie Smith and Drake Wilcox of Queens are tied for first with an eleven-under score of 133 after two rounds of play.
The 2022 SAC Men's Golf Championship concludes on Tuesday, Apr. 12. Hodge will tee off first for the Eagles at 9:00 A.M., with a new member of the convocation hitting the course every ten minutes until 9:40 A.M. Fans can follow along with live stats via BirdieFire here.
