The University of Florida men’s golf team shot a team score of 606 (+38) on Monday in the first two rounds of the Inverness Invitational at Inverness Country Club to finish the day tied for fourth place. Sophomore Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) led the way for the Gators, firing a seven-over 149 (75-74), to head into the clubhouse in a five-way tie for fifth.

“With a lot of young guys out there, we obviously had some significant jitters today,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “We began on the most difficult part of the course and it was rough in the beginning, but our guys hung in there after some poor starts. We’re going to have some growing pains, and today was part of the process.”

After opening the first round with a four-over 39 on the front nine, Horschel managed to find his stroke on the 10th, birdying the par-four hole en route to an even-par back half. He got off to a quick start on Inverness’ front nine in the second round, rolling in birdies on one and two to drop to two-over for the tournament. He gave the strokes back, however, with a bogey and two doubles, and made the turn at three-over for the round and seven-over for the tournament. He finished the day with that score after playing another even back nine.

Junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) helped keep the Gators in contention with rounds of 74 (+3) and 76 (+5) to finish the day in a 10th-place tie at eight-over (150). His first-round 74, which included three birdies, is his best nine-hole score since he shot 71 in the final round of the 2006 SunTrust Gator Invitational. He would add a birdie to his card on the par-five 13th during the second round to run his day-one total to four.

“Horschel and Villegas both played solid golf today,” Alexander said. “They can play better than they did today, but it was a good start.”

Three Florida players – freshmen Tyson Alexander (Gainesville, Fla.), Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) and Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) – saw their first collegiate action on Monday. Alexander fared the best of the trio, finishing in a tie for 33rd (77-78 = 155) after two rounds that included a second-round eagle and a combined four birdies. Echavarria and McKenney both found themselves in a tie for 45th with matching scores of 157 (+15). Echavarria shot rounds of 77-80, while McKenney improved on a first-round 82 with a 75 in the afternoon.

“I’m glad we’ve got another day here, because we can certainly do better,” Alexander said. “We’ll take our lumps here and there, but we’ll continue to improve. I’m excited to see how we respond tomorrow.”

Live scoring for the Inverness Invitational, hosted by the University of Toledo, can be found at www.golfstat.com.

Team Scores Through Round Two

Individual Top-10 Through Round Two

Florida Results Through Round Two

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