Bulldogs slip to 8th in SEC championship

ST. SIMONS ISLAND -- The Georgia men’s golf team slipped to eighth place on Saturday at the Southeastern Conference Championship on Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course. 

The Bulldogs fired a 3-under-par 277 in the second round to move to 1-under 559. Alabama has the team lead at 17-under 543, followed by LSU at 14-under 546, Vanderbilt and South Carolina both at 10-under 550, and Auburn at 9-under 551. 

“We were a little better today, but we’re still not making a lot of putts and making a lot of birdies,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “The golf course was there for the taking, but we didn’t capitalize on it. We’ve got one more day to go out there to take it low. It’s the game of golf and anything can happen. If our guys can catch fire, and they’re all capable of shooting 5- or 6-under, anything can happen.” 

Junior Lee McCoy paced the Bulldogs with a 4-under 66, followed by sophomore Greyson Sigg and freshman Zach Healy at even-par 70, and senior Mookie DeMoss at 1-over 71. Junior Sepp Straka had the Bulldogs’ non-counting score of 3-over 73. 

Healy is tied for 11th at 3-under 137. South Carolina’s Matthew NeSmith has sole possession of first individually at 11-under 129, followed by Alabama’s Robby Shelton (10-under 130) and Arkansas’ Kolton Crawford (9-under 131). 

McCoy, who has won a school-record three straight tournaments, stands 19th at 1-under 130. Sigg is at even-par 140, followed by DeMoss at 3-over 143 and Straka at 7-over 147. 

“I played a little better today, but I still left a few out there,” McCoy said. “I definitely gave away a few (on Friday) that I shouldn’t have. It was clean today, so I’m happy with it.” 

“Today's conditions felt a little tougher than (Friday's), but I played solid,” Sigg said. “I’m still not scoring the way I would like to, but I can take a lot of good things from this week so far.” 

The final round of the SEC Championship will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday for the Bulldogs, who will be paired with Ole Miss and Florida. Three-hole scoring and tee times can be found at SECSports.com and GolfStat.com.