BRIDGEPORT, W.V. – Junior Patrick Sheehan leads the pack as five Nittany Lions sit in the top 20 and Penn State holds down second place as a team after a strong first two rounds at West Virginia's Mountaineer Invite Monday.
Penn State sat in third place at 6-over, 294, after the first round, but once again put together a stellar second round to catapult into second place of the 12-team field. The Nittany Lions shot a 10-under, 278, second round to finish the opening day at 4-under, 572. Second-place Penn State trails first-place #23 N.C. State by just two strokes heading into Tuesday's final 18 holes. The Nittany Lions have nine-stroke advantage on third-place host West Virginia.
Four golfers, two from Drexel and two from Xavier, will need to play hole 13 in the morning before second round results are completely finalized as the end of play was suspended due to darkness. Those four golfers will play that hole at 8 a.m. before round three tees off around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Sheehan owns sole possession of first place at 6-under, 138, sitting one stroke ahead of West Virginia's second-place golfer Mark Goetz. The junior shot an even 72 in the opening round before firing a scorching 6-under, career low-tying 66, in the second round. Sheehan carded 10 birdies on the day, seven of which came in his stellar second round.
Graduate student Lou Olsakovsky moved up 11 spots in the second round thanks to a 2-under, 70. He shot a 1-over, 73, in the opening round and sits tied for fourth heading into Tuesday at 1-under, 143. Graduate student James McHugh is also tied for fourth at 1-under, 143, while playing as an individual.
Junior Jimmy Meyers, playing as an individual, is tied for eighth at an even 144. Freshman Jake Griffin is currently tied for 13th at 1-over, 145. Griffin climbed 21 spots in the second round thanks to a 3-under, 69, that followed a 4-over, 76, opening 18. Sophomore James Allen sits tied for 17th at 2-over, 146, after a pair of 1-over, 73s, in the first two rounds.
Junior Ben Smith, playing as an individual, is tied for 48th at 10-over, 154. Freshman Morgan Lofland is tied for 53rd at 11-over, 155.
The third and final round of the Mountaineer Invite at Pete Dye Golf Club's par-72, 7,308-yard course gets underway Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
