Feb. 25, 2013

PONTE VERDA BEACH, Fla. – Sophomore Blake Morris carded a 1-under 71 on Monday to lead Ole Miss in the second round of the John Hayt Invitational at the Sawgrass Country Club.

Morris’ 1-under par round included four birdies and vaulted the Connecticut native from 55th into a tie for 43rd. Junior Tom Brown fired a 1-over par 73 after carding a 4-over 76 yesterday and currently sits in a tie for 39th after two rounds. Sophomore Joe Lewis turned in a 5-over 77, while freshman Connor Davis posted a 6-over 78.

“We played better today in really tough conditions,” said Ole Miss head coach Ernest Ross. “Blake and Tom had much better rounds in the wind and rain. Forrest Gamble is battling a bad back, and we need him healthy again. Playing in these tough conditions will help us to be tougher in the long term.”

Freshman Forrest Gamble rounded out the Ole Miss group with an 84 in the second round. The Rebels posted a team total of 299 and have a two-round total of 610 – good for 14th in the team standings.

North Florida leads the team leaderboard after two rounds with a team score of 17-under par. The third and final round of the John Hayt Invitational tees off tomorrow.

Keep up with the Men’s Golf team on Twitter @OleMissMGolf and Facebook at www.facebook.com/OleMissMGolf.

Ole Miss Leaderboard

T39. Tom Brown – 76-73-149

T43. Blake Morris – 79-71-150

T67. Joe Lewis – 78-77-155

T73. Connor Davis – 79-78-157

87. Forrest Gamble – 78-84-162

Team Leaderboard

1. North Florida – 276-283-559

2. Duke – 282-289-571

3. UCF – 286-299-585

T4. North Texas – 293-294-587

T4. LSU – 290-297-587

T4. Arkansas – 293-294-587

T4. Florida – 292-295-587

T8. Tulsa – 292-297-589

T9. Coastal Carolina – 291-300-591

T9. Jacksonville – 295-296-591

T11. Tennessee – 294-298-592

T11. UAB – 292-300-592

13. Mercer – 301-298-599

14. Ole Miss – 311-299-610

15. Furman – 301-312-613