Duke Remains Second at ACC Championship

Saturday, April 23

New London, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two at ACC Championship

Gornik Ties for 45th at World Amateur Team Championship

Duke Remains Second at ACC Championship

4/23/2011 8:57:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW LONDON, N.C. -- The Duke men's golf team fired a nine-under 279 to stay in second place and remain in contention for the 2011 ACC Championship. Sophomores Tim Gornik, Julian Suri and Brinson Paolini posted rounds of 68 (-4), 69 (-3) and 69 (-3), respectively, to pace the Blue Devils in the second round at Old North State Club (par 72, 7,102 yards).

"Today was a good day all around. With three guys firing rounds in the 60s it was a real opportunity to have a special day," said head coach Jamie Green. "Our guys played really well. Some of the guys got off to really good starts but everyone finished well and that is something we talked about prior to today's round. Tim [Gornik] bouncing back from a 78 yesterday and tying for the low round today was an extrordinary thing for the team and a very good thing for him going into the final round."

Georgia Tech posted a 10-under 278 on Saturday and leads the tournament with a 36-hole total of 559 (-17). Duke is nine shots back with an eight-under 568, while Clemson is third with a four-under 572. Virginia (575, -1) and Florida State (576, E) round out the top five and are followed by Wake Forest (581, +5), N.C. State (582, +6), North Carolina (584, +8), Virginia Tech (592, +16), Maryland (604, +28) and Boston College (631, +55).

Paul Haley of Georgia Tech holds the individual lead with an eight-under 136 following his second straight round of 68. Corbin Mills (Clemson), Kyle Scott (Georgia Tech) and John Varol (Wake Forest) are each three shots back, while Suri is alone in fifth with a four-under 140. Paolini is tied for sixth with a two-under 142 and Yaroslav Merkulov is tied for eighth with a one-under 143.

Gornik made a 10-stroke improvement from the first round to move into a tie for 25th with a two-over 146. The Ljubljana, Slovenia, native suffered his only bogey of the day on the par 5 first hole. He recovered with birdies on No. 4 and No. 6 to move into red figures. Gornik carded a birdie on No. 10 to move to two-under and added birdies on No. 15 and No. 17 to finish with a season-low four-under 68. Gornik's 68 is tied for the low round of the tournament.

Suri, one of six players to shoot under-par in both rounds, used a three-under 69 in the second round to move into the top 5 on the individual leaderboard. He started strong with birdies on the par 5 first and par 5 fourth holes to get to two-under early in the day. He suffered bogeys on No. 8 and No. 10 to slide back to even-par. Suri closed strong with birdies on No. 15, No. 16 and No. 18 for his seventh under-par round of the season.

Paolini recorded four birdies, 13 pars and one bogey en route to a three-under 69 on Saturday. The Virginia Beach, Va., native played the front nine at two-under with birdies on No. 1 and No. 5. He moved to four-under on the day with birdies on No. 12 and No. 14 before suffering his lone blemish of the round with a bogey on No. 15. Paolini closed with three consecutive pars for his sixth round in the 60s this season.

Senior Wes Roach posted a one-over 73 and is now tied for 34th with a five-over 149. He started well with birdies on the par 3 third hole and par 5 fourth hole but suffered a double-bogey on No. 5 and a bogey on No. 8 to make the turn at one-over. Roach fell to three-over after bogeys on No. 14 and No. 16 before closing birdie-birdie to finish at one-over.

Merkulov is tied for eighth overall at one-under after shooting a two-over 74 on Saturday. The Penfield, N.Y., native began the day with five straight pars before suffering a bogey on No. 6. He recovered with a birdie on the 181-yard, par 3 seventh hole before running into trouble with a bogey on No. 9 and a triple-bogey on No. 10. Merkulov got back to three-over with a birdie on No. 12 but gave a stroke back with a bogey on No. 16. He closed the day strong and seized some momentum heading into the final round with an eagle on the 568-yard, par 5 18th hole.

Duke begins final round play on Sunday at 10:40 am. The Blue Devils will be paired with Georgia Tech and Clemson for the third straight day. Duke enters the final round nine shots back of Georgia Tech and four shots ahead of Clemson.

"Tomorrow will probably take a special round to win this tournament because Georgia Tech is playing so well and has played well here in the past," said Green. "At the same time I know that our guys are more than capable of that kind of special round. We are looking forward to having fun tomorrow and creating some great memories. They are doing a great job of staying in the moment, keeping their heads up and knowing that opportunities are going to come for good players. They have done just what they needed to do to put themselves in position to score."

Live scoring for the event is available at www.theacc.com/championships/11-mens-golf-livestats.html. Live web streaming will be available for free on Sunday (1:30 pm to conclusion of play) on the ACC.com.

NOTES

*** Duke was the only team with three players to record rounds in the 60s on Saturday.

*** The Blue Devils played the final three holes at five-under in the second round. Duke had an eagle, five birdies, eight pars and two bogeys on Nos. 16-18.

*** Suri has played the back nine of Old North State Club at four-under with five birdies, 12 pars and one bogey.

*** Suri had a string of 21 holes of par or better golf snapped with a bogey on No. 8.

*** Merkulov is tied for the tournament lead in par 5 scoring at five-under (4.38). Suri is tied for third in par 5 scoring at four-under (4.50).

*** Suri has a team-high eight birdies, while Merkulov and Paolini each has seven birdies.

*** Gornik, Suri and Paolini share the team lead with 24 pars through two rounds of play.

*** Merkulov is one of four players to card an eagle in the tournament.

*** Paolini is tied for fourth in par 4 scoring at two-under (3.90). Gornik (-1, 3.95) and Suri (E, 4.00) also rank among the tournament leaders.

*** Roach, Suri, Merkulov and Paolini are each even-par on the challenging par 3s at Old North State Club.

*** Gornik played the back nine at three-under with three birdies and six pars on Saturday. He suffered three bogeys and a double-bogey on Nos. 10-18 in the opening round.

*** Paolini is four-under on the front nine with five birdies, 12 pars and one bogey through the first two rounds.