FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Some would describe the play of sophomore Kentucky men’s golfer Alex Goff to open the 2020-21 season as being in the zone. Others would define it as being on fire. However, one chooses to designate his recent play – it was even better during round two at the Legends Collegiate Invitational on Monday. Goff matched a Brian Craig-era record with a round of 64 and moved into contention on the individual leaderboard. He is tied for fourth and is two shots back of the leaders entering Tuesday’s final round.
The Wildcats concluded the day in 13th place overall at 2-under par for the tournament. Vanderbilt leads the clubhouse by 10 strokes.
“Alex is leading this team in a pretty exceptional way,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “When you have a putt to shoot 28 on nine holes, that is pretty impressive. We need to pick it up and give him some help though. Alex can carry a lot, but this is still a team game and we are looking for some guys to step up and compete. Tomorrow is a new day and will hopefully be the start of that.”
With the Wildcats beginning their round off the No. 10 tee, Goff simply dazzled in his first nine holes. He picked up birdies at the 11th and 12th to get the round going early. But then he just took it to a whole other level. The Kings Mountain, North Carolina, native birdied the final five holes of the backside and narrowly missed an eagle putt on the par-five 18th for a 28.
“I was able to make two nice putts on my second and third hole followed by a good par on the 13th, Goff said. “Then I just hit the ball so good, most of my birdies were basically tap-ins which is nice. It’s always fun to get on a roll and make a lot of birdies and shoot 29. My second nine played tough today. I played smart golf on that side and took what the course gave me.”
At the turn, he had another look for birdie at the first but just missed it. He pushed his score to 8-under at the second and played steady par until the ninth. He made his lone mistake of the round with a bogey on the final hole.
Goff’s round of 64 matched Cullan Brown and Jordan Blann for the lowest score of any player in the Craig era. It betters the second round 65 he produced earlier this season at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational to ignite his tournament and put him in position for a win during the final round. Goff has played five rounds thus far in 2020-21 and he has played in the 60s in four of them. His scoring average for the year is a sizzling 68.40.
He enters Tuesday’s final round four shots back of Vanderbilt’s Matthew Riedel and Arkansas’ Julian Perico who finished the day at 12-under par.
Graduate student Jacob Cook and senior Allen Hamilton both generated rounds of 1-over par on Monday. Hamilton is tied for 39th after playing 1-under par during today’s back nine. Cook is in 63rd and benefited from birdies at the third and fifth holes.
Sophomore Jackson LaLonde is tied for 64th following a round of 76 and freshman Campbell Kremer shot a 73 and is in 69th.
The Commodores have a 10-shot lead and are 32-under par for the tournament. Texas A&M is second at 22-under par and Georgia is one shot off the Aggies’ pace. Kentucky is within five shots of South Carolina who sit in 10th place entering the final 18.
Kentucky will be paired with Mississippi State again on Tuesday. Play gets underway at the 10th hole once again at 10:05 a.m. ET.
