Men's Golf Second at Duke After 36 Holes

Saturday, September 8

Durham, N.C. (Duke University GC)

All Day

North Carolina

Rod Myers Invitational Day One

September 8, 2018 | Men's Golf

2018 RMI Round 2

Four Tar Heels Under Par with 18 Holes to Play

By: Steve Kirschner

Ryan Gerard (Raleigh, N.C.) shot a 4-under-par 68 in the second round and is one of four Tar Heels under par after 36 holes as the University of North Carolina heads to the final round of the Rod Myers Invitational just one shot out of the lead.

Carolina shot an 8 under 280 in Saturday's first round, the second-best round of the morning session, and a 2 under 286 in the afternoon, which tied host school Duke and Cincinnati for the best score of the second round.

The Tar Heels are one stroke behind Penn State, which shot 278 and 287 in Saturday's action. Duke is third at 2 under par, Florida State is fourth (-1) and Liberty rounds out the top five (+3).

Gerard shot even par in the first round and is tied for fourth place at 4 under 140, nine shots behind John Pak of Florida State, who tied the course record with a 62 in the morning, answered with a 69 in the second round and is 13 under par.

Tar Heel freshmen Ryan Burnett (Lafayette, Calif.) and Dougie Ergood (Mount Laurel, N.J) qualified for spots in the starting lineup in their first collegiate event and made an immediate impact as Burnett shot 68 and Ergood had a 69 in the opening round. They were the first Tar Heel freshmen to shoot in the 60s in the same round since Ben Griffin and William Register in 2015.

Burnett's 4-under-par finish was the lowest round by a Tar Heel in the first round of the season since Bailey Patrick shot 4 under in 2013 at the Carpet Capital Classic. Burnett's round was also the best by a Tar Heel freshman in his first 18 holes since 2007 when Kevin O'Connell fired a 5 under 67 at the VCU Shootout. He eagled the seventh hole in the first round, holing out a wedge from 92 yards on his third shot on the par 5.

Burnett and Ergood both shot 1 over 73s in the second round. Burnett (141) is in seventh place, while Ergood is tied for eighth (142).

Carolina junior Austin Hitt (Longwood, Fla.) is also under par at -1 after rounds of 71-72 and is tied for 12th place.

UNC begins play at 9:20 a.m. in Sunday's third and final round at the Duke University Golf Course.