FRANKLIN, Tenn. — A hot finish to Friday's opening round has WKU Hilltopper Golf tied for fifth and ahead of numerous highly ranked programs at Vanderbilt's Mason Rudolph Championship.
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The five Hilltoppers in competition went a combined 7 under par on the back nine Friday at the par-71, 7,100-yard Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course, finishing the day with a 5-under 279 total. That is WKU's fourth-lowest round of the season.
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WKU is tied for fifth with No. 67 Kentucky and trails four programs in the Golfstat Top 90. No. 25 Tennessee leads the field with a 269 total.
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The Hilltoppers, who are ranked 99th, are currently ahead of seven competing teams ranked in the top 85, including two squads from fourth-ranked host Vanderbilt.
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WKU is also ahead of No. 20 Liberty, No. 41 Marquette, No. 52 Georgia Southern, No. 56 Mississippi State and No. 83 East Tennessee State.
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Junior Tom Bevington is tied for sixth individually after tying his career low with a 4-under 67. After starting his round with 12 pars, Bevington finished the day with four birdies on his last six holes.
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Bevington is tied for third in the entire tournament in par-3 scoring.
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Redshirt senior Billy Tom Sargent also caught fire down the stretch Friday and is tied for 18th following a 2-under 69. Sargent was 1 over through 13 holes but tallied three birdies in the last five holes.
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Senior Stuart Easton is tied for 27th with a 1-under 70, and redshirt junior Linus Lo is tied for 52nd with a 2-over 73. Sophomore Chase Landrum carded a 3-over 74, wrapping up play with a birdie and eagle on his final two holes.
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Bevington is currently ahead of nine top-100 individuals in the field, while Sargent is ahead of seven of them.
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Kentucky's Cullan Brown and Tennessee's Nolan Ray lead the individual standings with a pair of 7-under 64s.
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There's still plenty of work to be done for the Hilltoppers in the three-day event, with the second round slated to start at 7:30 a.m. CT Saturday with tee times.
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Mason Rudolph Championship First Day Results
T6. Tom Bevington – 67
T18. Billy Tom Sargent – 69
T27. Stuart Easton – 70
T52. Linus Lo – 73
T64. Chase Landrum - 74
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