Tim McKenney has not qualified for any tournaments thus far, but don't say he isn't capable of playing golf.
McKenney sits in a tie for third place at the Duke Individual Collegiate in Durham, N.C. after shooting a two-round total of 144, 2-over par. He shot a 1-over par 72 in both rounds Monday.
"I think he (McKenney) just played pretty solid throughout," assistant coach Steve Bradley said. "He never really got himself in trouble."
McKenney's consistent play put him four strokes behind the lead.
"Anything can happen," Bradley said about McKenney's chances of winning. "That's one or two holes in golf, one or two swings."
Teammate Chappell Brown isn't far behind in a tie for ninth with a 36-hole score of 146. After shooting a 5-over par in the first round that witnessed Brown end the back nine with four bogeys in a row, he composed himself with a resilient 1-under in the second round.
The third Gator in the tournament, Arnond "Bank" Vongvanij, is one stroke behind Brown. Vongvanij's 5-over-par 147 landed him in a tie for 12th place.
"They all seemed to get off to a rough start," Bradley said. "Probably holes 13 through 18 are the toughest holes on the course."
Indeed.
Combined, the 13th through 18th holes saw the Gators shoot 13 bogeys versus one birdie after both rounds, including the sole double bogey for any UF golfer on the 18th hole.
Compare that to the other 12 holes, where the three golfers shot a combined 11 birdies, taking into account both rounds.
If any of the three are to win the individual event, putts will have to start falling. Because with no team scores in this tournament, it's only about what the individual does.
"What I saw was that they hit the ball pretty well," Bradley said. "When we got done with the round, nobody wanted to hit balls, they all wanted to putt."
