Clemson started the second round of the NCAA Championship at 6:30 in the morning in Arizona. The Tigers were among the first teams off the tee and tied for 10th to start the day.

In the second round Clemson posted a 4-over par round of 284 and then had to wait around to see where that would end up after everyone in the 30 team field completed play.

Leaderboard watches would see the Tigers drop deep into the teens in the early part of the day, but as play went on the Tigers started moving up the leader board even though they were already off the course.

When the Tigers turned in their scorecards they were 16th. When the last score was entered in the computer Clemson was tied for 8th place with Wake Forest.

“I am glad we are in the top 15 entering Sunday,” said Clemson coach Larry Penley. “It is a big advantage to play in the
morning. The way I look at it, we have 36 holes to prove we are one of the top eight teams in the nation,” he said.

Clemson senior Turk Pettit shot a 3-under par 67 to go with his opening round 68 to be tied with Ryggs Johnston from Arizona State, who short the low round of the tournament with a 7-under par 63.

“He (Pettit) has been absolutely phenomenal the first two rounds. He is one of the few players in this field who hits such a high iron shot he can hold these greens. He is playing very smart, hitting irons off the tee when necessary and picking and choosing when to hit his driver. We need to give him some help,” said the coach.

After playing a solid first round Jacob Bridgeman appeared to struggle in the second round until his last two holes when he carded back to back birdies.

“Jacob has played well, but just has not scored. I know he has a round in the 60s in him and hopefully that will happen tomorrow,” Penley said.

Kyle Cottam, Colby Patton and William Nottingham all posted 3-over par 73s.

Clemson is 9-shots inside the cut line to advance to play the final round on Monday and compete for one of the top eight spots to advance to the match play final.

“Obviously we have to stay in the top 15 after the third round on Sunday, then get into the final eight after the fourth round. Anything can happen in match play,” added Penley.

South Carolina’s Ryan Hall shot a second round 72 to finish his first 36 holes at 5-over par and tied for 55th place.

Georgia improved three places to now be tied for 16th. The Bulldogs need to get inside the top-15 to play in the fourth round.

Georgia’s Trent Phillips from Boiling Springs shot a 6-over par 76 and now is tied for 92nd place in the field.

NCAA Championship scores from GolfStat http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=22822