OPELIKA, Ala. – A trio of University of South Alabama men's golfers posted scores of par or better Monday in the second round of the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner to help the Jaguars move up three spots in the team standings after 36 holes.

Rasmus Karlsson paced the group with a 2-under-par 70, with Yannick Schütz carding a 71 and Jordan Plunkett adding a 72, making South one of three teams in the field to break par as a group on the day.  The Jags finished with a 1-under-par 287 total and will begin the last day of Auburn's tournament in fourth place in the team standings with a 36-hole 584 score.

The host Tigers fired an 8-under-par 280 score, and with a 3-under-par 573 total will enter the final round nine shots in front of Southern Methodist and 10 ahead of Arkansas State; USA is one stroke behind the Red Wolves.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner (Auburn)
Date: 2/25
Course: Grand National Lake Course (par 72, 7,149 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=15979

TEAM SCORES
1) Auburn 293-280—573 (-3): 2) Southern Methodist 295-287—582; 3) Arkansas State 283-300—583; 4) South Alabama 297-287—584; 5) UNC-Wilmington 301-289—590; T6) Auburn 'B' 296-295—591; T6) Georgia State 295-296—591; 8) ULM 304-289—593; 9) Kennesaw State 303-294—597; 10) Western Kentucky 306-292—598; 11) Mercer 295-304—600; 12) Missouri 301-299—600; 13) Chattanooga 305-299—604; 14) Austin Peay 307-300—607; 15) Florida Atlantic 304-310—614; 16) Lipscomb 315-303—618.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Josh Edgar, GSU 68-70—138 (-6); 2) Brandon Mancheno, AU 74-68—142; T3) Wyatt Larkin, KSU 72-71—143; T3) Severin Sollier, GSU 72-71—143; T3) Jovan Rebula, AU 74-69—143; T6) Guillaume Fanonnel, ULM 75-69—144; T6) Linus Samuelsson, LU 72-72—144; T6) Andrew Kozan, AU 'B' 75-69—144; T9) five individuals with 145.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T9) Rasmus Karlsson 75-70—145 (+1); T19) Kyle Robinson 71-76—147; T23) Peter Staalbo 74-74—148; T32) Jordan Plunkett 77-72—149; T53) Dawson Atkinson* 72-81—153; T61) Yannick Schütz 83-71—154.
*denotes competed as an individual

TEE SHOTS
-There are 84 players from 16 schools competing in the field this week.
-With its performance on Monday, South has now posted at least one round at or below par as a team in four straight tournaments.
-As a group, the Jaguars stand third in the field in scoring on par-three holes and are also in the top five with a collective 7 under total on par fives.
-It was Karlsson's third score of par or better this season, and his first of the spring campaign.
-After two of his four birdies came on par threes on the front side of the course the junior is among the top five in overall scoring on those holes after two days.
-Schütz and Plunkett rank first and second on the squad, respectively, with eight and seven rounds at or below par this year.
-Schütz led the Jags with five birdies in the round, moving up 18 spots in the individual standings after lowering his score by 12 strokes from the opening 18 holes of the event.
-Both of Plunkett's birdies came before the turn as the Jaguars posted 12 of their 19 on the day on the course's first nine holes.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the Jaguars performance in round two: "We came out focused and ready to play and got off to a very good start.  The wind was around but it wasn't as gusty and hard as yesterday so the conditions were easier from that standpoint, but this golf course is still difficult.  You have to be focused and execute the shots, and they did; they got off to a hot start and played well all day."
On the key to being under par as a team in the second round: "Everybody played great, we had an excellent round of golf going — arguably the lowest of the day — and unfortunately didn't close the way we wanted to to capitalize on the good golf.  But we had five guys in the game for most of the day, that's really the difference on a golf course like this.  When you have five guys right there it allows you some wiggle room, that will be important as we head into tomorrow."
On the play of Karlsson and Schütz: "Rasmus played great, emotionally he was very much in control almost the entire round.  He made some key up-and-downs and good clean-ups with some lag putting to be under par the whole day.  Yannick came out of the gates and was 2-under par — and could've been 3 under — through three holes, he hit a lot of very good golf shots and was great all round."

Up next: The tournament is set to conclude on Tuesday with the final round slated to tee off at 7:50 a.m. (CST).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit:  jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.

—USA—