Freshman Murphy Shoots 146 to Lead Wildcats at James Madison Invitational
Oct. 9, 2004
Team and Individual Scores
Team-by-Team Results
HARRISONBURG, Va.--Freshman Patrick Murphy (Chicago, Ill.) carded a two-under-par 69 in Saturday's opening round and wound up with a score of 69-77=146 to tie for 37th place among 83 golfers after two rounds at the James Madison Invitational. Villanova will play the third and final round of the weekend tournament on Sunday at the par-71 Lakeview Golf Course. Starting time for Sunday is set for 8 a.m.
As a team, the Wildcats produced rounds of 293-299=592 and were in 15th place heading into the final 18 holes. Despite its position in the team standings, Villanova reduced its team average round to 297.57 with its scores. That figure represents an improvement of nearly 14 strokes over last season's team average of 311.50.
Following Murphy for the Wildcats was sophomore Brock Bergman (Pittsburgh, Pa.), who was tied for 53rd after posting a 75-73=148. Junior Jonathan Hewett (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and freshman Michael Kouch (Huntington Valley, Pa.) each were tied for 57th with scores of 149. Hewett followed a first-round 77 with a 72 in the second round, while Kouch reversed those scores and carded rounds of 72 and 77. Senior captain Charlie Nettleton (Lisle, Ill.) had the kickout scores in each round after scoring 80-81=161.
Kouch, a local product, is making his collegiate debut this weekend. In addition to shooting just one stroke over par in his first collegiate round, he led the entire team with eight birdies on the day. The Wildcats had 32 birdies as a team, which was the fourth-highest total in the field.
Rutgers was in first place atop the team standings with a score of 556, while Towson was seven strokes behind at 563. The Scarlet Knights shot a 285 in the first round before catching fire in the second round and posting a blistering 13-under-par 271. Individually, Brett Pittman of Rutgers was in first place with an eight-under-par total of 134 (69-65).
After concluding the tournament on Sunday, the Wildcats will have the week off before participating in the annual Big 5 Classic next Saturday and Sunday.
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