A second-round 71 (-1) proved to be enough for University of Florida sophomore Toby Ragland (Jacksonville, Fla.) to protect his spot atop the leaderboard on Monday at the Isleworth Invitational, while UF’s second-ranked men’s golf team jumped one spot after posting a four-over round of 292. The Gators will enter Tuesday’s final round in sole possession of third place with a total of 294-292 = 586 (+10).

Ragland began his day with two bogeys through four holes, but quickly rebounded with a birdie on the par-four sixth and made the turn at one over for the day. He played a flawless back nine, highlighted by birdies on the 13th and 17th holes, to move to one under for the day and head into the clubhouse with a two-round score of 69-71 = 140 (-4). He will begin play on Tuesday with a one-shot lead over Georgia’s Brian Harman, whose one-under 71 on Monday put him alone in second place.

“Toby didn’t have his best stuff early, but he’s a really competitive guy,” Florida head coach Buddy Alexander said. “I don’t think a lot of people realize how competitive he actually is. He doesn’t get flustered out there. He has great experience at this level, which should serve him well tomorrow.”

The biggest catalyst for Florida’s day-two improvement was sophomore Billy Horschel (Grant, Fla.), who bounced back from an opening-round 79 to tie a tournament record with a five-under 67 on Monday. That score catapulted Horschel 63 spots up the leaderboard, from a tie for 75th to a tie for 12th. He got off to a promising start to the day, birdying three holes on the front nine to make the turn at two-under for the round. After a bogey on 10, Horschel responded with an eagle on 13 to drop to three-under for the day. He turned in a strong finish to his second round with birdies on 17 and 18, and will start play on Tuesday just two spots outside of the top-10 with a score of 79-67 = 146 (+2).

Freshman Tim McKenney (Scottsdale, Ariz.) carded a two-over 74 on Monday, marking a four-shot improvement over his first-round score. He will enter Tuesday’s final round in a tie for 54th with a score of 78-74 = 152 (+8). Sophomore Will Strickler (Charlottesville, Va.) made two of his three birdies on the day on the final pair of holes en route to a second-round 80, and junior Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) rounded out the Florida lineup with an 83 on Monday.

“As a young team, we need to learn to cover for one of our studs when he has a bad day,” Alexander said. “Our guys know that you can’t win golf tournaments by counting high scores. On the other hand, you have to give credit to Billy Horschel for bouncing back the way he did today. We’ll need some of that grit tomorrow of we’re going to have a shot.”

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

Team Scores Through Round Two

Individual Top-10 Through Round Two

Florida Results Through Round Two

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