Junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) shot a two-under 68 on Tuesday in the second round of the PING/Golfweek Preview Invitational to lead the No. 5 University of Florida men’s golf team in a charge up the leaderboard and into a share of the lead heading into Wednesday’s final round. The Gators are tied with Oklahoma State at 562 (+2) after their second round of 281 (+1) in as many days on the par-70, 6,809-yard Gold Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club.

“We had another good day of solid golf and put ourselves in a good position,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to get into the frying pan tomorrow and see what we’re made of.”

Villegas got off to a solid start in the second round, birdying the third, sixth and ninth holes to make up for bogeys on two and eight. He made the turn at one-under for the round, and even par for the tournament. After a bogey on 11, which dropped him to even for the round, and par on 12, Villegas found a groove. He birdied three consecutive holes, including the par-five 15th that he bogeyed on Monday, and added two pars before bogeying 18 and heading into the clubhouse at two-under for the day and one-under for the tournament. His score placed him in a tie for seventh with 18 holes left to play, and his 11 birdies to this point in the tourney are the most in the field.

Sophomore Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) joined Villegas in the top-10 after moving up two spots following his second-consecutive round of 70 (E). Horschel was firing on all cylinders on the front nine on Tuesday, sinking five birdies with only a double-bogey on six to blemish his card through nine holes. He ran into some trouble on the back half and posted four bogeys, but threw in a birdie on the par-four 11th to salvage his even-par round and head into the final day tied for 10th.

With the tournament’s final round looming, freshman Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) remains within striking distance of the top-10, sitting in a tie for 13th after a second-round 73 (+3) that moved him to one-over for the event. He birdied the first hole, but made bogey or worse on three other holes on the front nine to make the turn at three-over for the day. He played par golf on the back half to take his 141 into the clubhouse.

After a six-over 76 on Monday, sophomore Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) rebounded in the second round to post an even-par 70. That showing put him in a tie for 43rd, up 13 spots from his round-one finish. Freshman Andres Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia) completed the Gators’ lineup with a three-over 73 that places him in a tie for 34th entering the final round.

“We need to find a way to put four scores together tomorrow to get the win,” Alexander said. “We’ll either find a way to push it through, or it’ll be good learning experience. Regardless, we need to play a good round of golf tomorrow.”

The field will play the final 18 holes, beginning on at 8 a.m., on Wednesday. Live scoring can be found at www.golfstat.com and via www.gatorzone.com.

Team Scores Through Round One

Individual Top-10 Through Round One

Florida Results Through Round One

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