The No. 6 University of Florida men’s golf team opened the 2005 Morris Williams Intercollegiate by notching a two-round six-under par score of 570, to lead the 15-team field at the Austin Country Club with second round play suspended due to darkness.

“We had a pretty good day today,” Head Coach Buddy Alexander said. “It probably was our best day of golf this season and it is nice to see how we rebounded after having such a poor performance at the Schenkel.”

Redshirt senior Richard Treis (Baden-Baden, Germany) fired rounds of 69 (-3) and 71 (-1) to lead the field by two strokes with a four-under par total score of 140. Treis is the third Gator this season to hold at least a portion of the lead entering the final round of play.

Sitting only two strokes behind his teammate, junior Matt Every (Daytona Bach, Fla.) fired and even-par round of 72 to open the day before closing out the second round with a two-under par score of 70. With a two-under par total score of 142, Every sits in a three-way tie for second-place.

The one-two punch of Treis and Every marks the first time this season that UF has placed golfers in the top-two places. No two Gators this season have managed to record a top-five individual finish in the same tournament this year, however UF has placed two golfers in the top-10 three times this season.

Junior Brett Stegmaier (Madison, Conn.) fired a one-over par score of 73 in the morning round, but returned in the afternoon to fire a two-under par score of 70. With a total of 143 (-1), Stegmaier sits in fifth-place.

Becoming the fourth Florida golfer in the top-10, junior James Vargas (Miami, Fla.) fired rounds of 74 and 71 to record a one-over par total score of 145. Vargas will begin the final round tied for seventh-place.

“It was a solid day for our top-four golfers,” Alexander said. “They really focused on improving after the Schenkel and it is paying off for our team.”

Freshman Manuel Villegas (Medellin, Colombia) had a challenging day as he recorded rounds of 80 (+8) and 78 (+6) to post a two-round 14-over par total of 158. Villegas will start the final round tied for 59th-place.

The Gators will await the second-round to complete at 7:45 tomorrow morning before teeing it up for the final round around 8:45 central time. The 2005 Morris Williams Intercollegiate is scheduled to conclude tomorrow with the completion of the second round and then the Austin Country Club will host final round action beginning via a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m.

-UF-