Team Standings | Individual Leaderboard

LAFAYETTE HILL, Pa. - Rhode Island outshot the entire field by at least 14 strokes in the second to storm to the top of the team standings at the Dragon Match Play Invitational Monday.

As a team, the Rams had 36 birdies, 10 more than any other squad. Junior Aidan O'Donovan and freshman Luke Stennett had 10 and eight birdies, respectively, to top the field.

O'Donovan was under par for the two rounds to finish the day tied for second among the 42 players playing. After shooting 1-over in the morning round, O'Donovan fired six birdies to go 2-under in the second round. He led a contingent of four Rams to finish under par in the second round. Josiah Tong (2-under), Stennett (3-under) and Tyler Bruneau (3-under) combined to give Rhody a minus-9 in the second round. That propelled URI from sixth place after the opening round to first place by the end of the day. 

"Today was a tale of two rounds. It was 42 degrees and rainy for most of the first 18, and it seemed to affect us more than the other teams," Rhode Island head coach Gregg Burke said. "At one point late in the first round we were in seventh. Aidan did everything he could to keep us in it and it wasn't until late in the round we made a small move.

"Heading into the second 18, we just said, 'Let's get a URI deep red round and show everyone who we were.' Luke and Tyler were explosive out there. Josiah just played Josiah golf and gave us a great round. Aidan put himself in the medalist race after 12 holes, but three bogies in the next five holes took the wind out of the sales. But typical of Aidan, he birdied 18 and it was a big lift to the four guys after him."

URI's top four all were among the top 15 on the individual leaderboard. O'Donovan was tied for second. Tong was tied for sixth, while Stennett was tied for eighth and Bruneau was tied for 15th. Sean Magarian didn't factor in the team score, but he was in the top half of the field, finishing plus-four in both rounds to find his way to a tie for 20th.

"Hats off to Sean too. He did not have a good opening round and came out four over after four holes in the second, but then went even par through the final 14 holes," Burke said. "Tomorrow will be in the 30s at the start, so we need to bear down early. The final two rounds are Match Play, so mental toughness and competitiveness are more important than talent. We need to play with the focus and urgency we played with in the second 18."