Courtesy University of Arkansas Athletics Department
On a day when scores across the board were high, senior Austin Cook of the No. 14 University of Arkansas men’s golf team shot two-under par to lead the Razorbacks at the John Hayt Invitational at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Cook’s two-under par score, the fourth best individual round of the day, allowed the Razorbacks to improve from sixth into a tie for fourth at the tournament which features six top 25 teams. No. 25 North Florida, the tournament host, posted a second consecutive round of under par as a team to hold a 12-stroke lead heading into the final day. No. 11 Duke is second at five-under par and is followed by Central Florida (+9) and Arkansas, North Texas and No. 7 Florida who are all tied at 11-over par.
Cook’s day did not begin as he would have hoped, but the senior did not allow his two-over par score through five holes bother him. Instead, he began a furious comeback with a birdie on No. 8 and played the final nine holes at three-under par. Cook’s second round score moved him from 43rd on the individual leaderboard into a tie for 18th at one-over par through 36 holes.
Junior Sebastian Cappelen posted his second straight round of even par with a trio of birdies and bogeys surrounded by 12 holes of par. Tearing up the front side of the course, Cappelen made the turn at three-under par and looked to be on his way to a tremendous round, but three bogeys over his final five holes moved him back to even. Despite his back-nine struggles, Cappelen still managed one of the better rounds of the day by any player and moved from 25th into a tie for 12th individually.
The Razorbacks would count two scores at four-over par on Monday as freshman Taylor Moore, sophomore Thomas Sorensen and junior William Meason all found themselves there at the conclusion of the day. Meason had perhaps the fewest mistakes in his round as he carded three birdies and seven bogeys. Three-over par through five holes, Meason notched his first birdie on the par 5, eighth. The birdie began a string of four holes of alternating birdie-bogeys and he concluded the day with a birdie and two bogeys over his final four holes.
Sorensen had a rough start to his day, but settled in card a respectable score. Three bogeys and a double bogey in his first five holes saw the Dane five-over par. He settled down and sank back-to-back birdies on No. 9 and No. 10 and tacked on a third birdie on No. 12 to move his score back to two-over par. Sorensen closed the round with a birdie and three bogeys over the final six holes.
Big numbers hurt Moore on Monday as the freshman carded a double and triple bogey to go along with three birdies and two bogeys. A bogey on No. 2 was followed by a double on No. 4 and another bogey on No. 7 before he sank his first birdie putt on No. 8. Moore’s back nine saw a birdie on No. 11 which got him to two-over par, but his triple bogey followed on No. 13 and just a single birdie closed out the round.
The Razorbacks conclude the John Hayt Invitational on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. with players form North Texas and LSU. Arkansas’s players will begin on holes No. 1 through No. 5.