Sophomore Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) fired an opening-round 69 (-3) on Sunday to grab the individual lead and propel the No. 2 University of Florida men’s golf team into a tie for fourth at the Isleworth Invitational. The Gators, who began the day on the back nine, finished the day with a six-over total of 294, just three strokes behind leader Georgia.

“(Isleworth) is a pretty difficult golf course,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “It’s got a lot of length to it. We got off to a rough start, but we were able to right the ship as the day went on. This type of day is something we’re used to seeing this year, so hopefully we’ll continue to play solidly over the next few days.”

Ragland got off to a solid start, mixing in birdies on 13 and 15 with seven pars during the front half of his round to make the turn at two-under. After the break, he birdied the par-four first hole to get to three-under on the day. He got to as low as four-under before carding his lone bogey of the afternoon on the fifth hole. Ragland bounced back from the misstep, however, and capped off his round with four-consecutive pars to keep his name atop the leaderboard. He will enter Monday’s second round one shot ahead of a five-man gathering at two-under.

Junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) is one of those five players a stroke behind Ragland after battling through up-and-down scores during the first half of his round – combating three bogeys with an eagle on the par-five 13th hole – before turning in a blistering performance over the final nine holes. After making the turn at one over on the day, he birdied the second hole to move to even. Villegas dropped back to one over after a bogey on the par-three fifth, but rolled in birdies on the next three holes, and finished the round off with a par to head into the clubhouse with a score of 70 (-2).

“Toby has played solid golf all year, and it was nice to see him step up on a day when some of our other guys weren’t at their best,” Alexander said. “He’s a sophomore now, and he’s been in the trenches, so he knows what it takes to win golf tournaments. We’ve been getting this type of play from Manuel all season long, so that certainly came as no surprise today. I think the performances of Toby and Manuel today speak to the fact that we have a well-rounded team, which always makes a coach happy.”

Sophomore Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.) was the third-best finisher for the Gators on the day, carding a five-over 77 to finish the day tied for 55th. Freshman Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) will head into Monday’s action in a tie for 69th after shooting a six-over 78 on Monday, while sophomore Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.) rounded out the UF lineup with a seven-over 79.

The field will play 18 holes, beginning on at 8 a.m., on Monday, before finishing up with the final 18 at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. 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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