April 19, 2008
State College, Pa. - Senior Robert Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.) opened up the Rutherford Intercollegiate Saturday with rounds of 72 and 68, finishing the day atop the leaderboard at 2-under par and setting himself up to become the first player ever to win the tournament in back-to-back years.
Rohanna carded eight birdies - tied for second most in the field - and led all players in par-4 scoring (3.82 average, -4). Rohanna leads Richmond's Robert Lindstrom and Miami's Nathan Sutherland by one stroke.
The Penn State men's golf team is also looking to repeat as champion after shooting two rounds of 286. The Nittany Lions lead the field at 4-over par 572, 11 shots ahead of second-place Miami (Ohio). Penn State leads the field with 118 pars and ranks first in par-3 scoring (3.18 average, +7). The Lions have won the tournament 14 of the past 16 years.
Penn State welcomed 11 teams from throughout the northeastern United States for the 32nd edition of the tournament. Named after R.B. "Pop" Rutherford, Sr., the father of Penn State golf, the tournament is being played at the 7,202-yard, par-71 Penn State Blue Course. Conditions were sunny, clear and breezy Saturday, giving some players difficultly as the average Round 1 score was 75.42 strokes, and the average in Round 2 was 76.23 strokes.
Coming off a career-best second-place finish at last weekend's Kepler Intercollegiate, sophomore T.J. Howe (Osceola, Pa.) shot rounds of 72 and 70. Howe currently sits in a three-way tied for fourth at even-par 142. Sophomore Kevin Foley (Somerville, N.J.) posted scores of 71 and 73, putting him in a tie for seventh place at 2-over par.
Senior Harvin Groft (State College, Pa.) is tied for 29th place at 9-over par after shooting rounds of 76 and 75, while junior Matt Leon (Brampton, Ontario) is tied for 44th place at +13 after firing rounds of 71 and 84.
Penn State has five players competing individually in the tournament. Playing in their first collegiate golf tournament, freshmen Brendan Borst (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Jason Cohan (Wayne, Pa.) sit in 38th place and 44th place, respectively. On his first hole of collegiate golf, Borst carded an eagle. Borst finished at +12, while Cohan finished at +13.
Junior Chad Bricker (Waynesboro, Pa.) is tied for 52nd at +14, junior Mitch Van Zelfden (Marietta, Ga.) is tied for 55th at +15 and junior Tyler Tarney (Galena, Ohio) is tied for 62nd at +18.
The final round concludes Sunday with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m.
Team R1 R2 Score To Par1) Penn State 286 286 572 +42) Miami (Ohio) 294 289 583 +15T3) Ball State 293 297 590 +22T3) Hartford 300 290 590 +22T5) Ohio 297 298 595 +27T5) Akron 295 300 595 +277) Francis Marion 290 306 596 +28T8) Bowling Green 302 295 597 +20T8) St. Bonaventure 286 311 597 +2010) Richmond 303 296 599 +2211) Binghamton 304 311 615 +4712) Wright State 307 312 619 +51
Penn State Players R1 R2 Score To Par1) Robert Rohanna 72 68 140 -2T4) T.J. Howe 72 70 142 ET7) Kevin Foley 71 73 144 +2T29) Harvin Groft 76 75 151 +9T44) Matt Leon 71 84 155 +13T38) Brendan Borst 72 82 154 +12T44) Jason Cohan 78 77 155 +13T52) Chad Bricker 78 78 156 +14T55) Mitch Van Zelfden 75 82 157 +15T62) Tyler Tarney 81 79 160 +18* Playing Individually