TicketsUniversity of Cincinnati senior Davis Baxter (Nolsenville, Tenn./Ravenwood High School) carded a 1-under par 70 for the second consecutive day to sit two strokes off the lead at 2-under 70-70=140 after Monday's second round at the American Championship at the Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Baxter entered the day with a one stroke lead and posted a pair of birdies and 15 par scores before bogeying the last hole. He hit the cup on the fly with his tee shot on No. 13, but the ball bounced out of the cup and he settled for a par.
South Florida's Claudio Correa recorded the best round of the tournament Monday with a 4-under 67 to move two shots ahead of Baxter at 4-under 71-67=138. USF's Cristian DiMarco was the only other player besides Correa in the 50-man field to shoot better than Davis on Monday. DiMarco finished at 2-under 69 to tie Baxter at 2-under 71-69=140.
Tuesday's final-round action starts at 7:30 a.m. ET. The Bearcats are scheduled to start their day beginning at 8:13 a.m. Follow the scoring live at Golfstat.com. The American Digital Network will provide live coverage beginning at 11:30 a.m.
As a team, the Bearcats remain in fourth place at 14-over 291-294=585. USF (5-under 284-279=563) grew its lead to 19 strokes ahead of second-place SMU (14-over 290-292=582). UCF is third at 16-over 289-295=584.
UC redshirt-freshman Andy Mayhew (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood High School) jumped 16 spots in the field to tie for 14th place at 4-over 75-71=146. He carded five birdies on the first eight holes and posted par scores on seven of the holes on the back nine but double bogies on No. 13 and No. 16 prevented a lower score.
Bearcats junior Austin Squires (Union, Ky./Ryle High School) slipped three spots into a tie with Mayhew and three other players at 14th at 4-over 72-74=146. He finished with a birdie, two bogies and a double bogie to go with 14 par scores.
UC freshman Nicolas Osterburg (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian High School) dropped into a tie for 42nd position at 11-over 74-79=153. Bearcats sophomore Jake Fox (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller High School) is 50th at 26-over 86-82=168.
Cincinnati started the event seeded sixth according to Golfstat rankings. The Bearcats tied for second place at the event last year, the program's best conference tournament finish since winning back-to-back Great Midwest Conference titles in 1993 and 1994.
// QUOTING COACH DOUG MARTIN
On Cincinnati's second-round performance:
"Another day of very challenging conditions. We got off to a great start behind Andy and Davis, both were under par early. We ran into a very tough stretch of holes on the back nine and didn't execute very well. Overall, this course possess a tremendous challenge and these guys have fought hard. Individually, both Davis and Andy played great rounds today shooting 70 and 71, respectively."
// CINCINNATI PLAYERS
T2 – Davis Baxter 70-70=140 (-2)
T14 – Austin Squires 72-74=146 (+4)
T14 – Andy Mayhew 75-71=146 (+4)
T42 – Nicolas Osterburg 74-79=153 (+11)
50 – Jake Fox 86-82=168 (+26)
// TEAM STANDINGS
1 – South Florida 284-279=563 (-5)
2 – SMU 290-292=582 (+14)
3 – UCF 289-295=584 (+16)
4 – Cincinnati 291-294=585 (+17)
T5 – East Carolina 292-295=587 (+19)
T5 – Temple 296-291=587 (+19)
7 – Memphis 302-287=589 (+21)
8 – Houston 301-289=590 (+22)
9 – Wichita State 292-302=594 (+26)
10 – UConn 302-296=598 (+30)