Feb. 25, 2008

Orlando, Fla. - Southern Miss men's golfer Paul Apyan shot a five-under par 139 over the first two rounds to lead the Golden Eagles, who sit in 11th place at the UCF Rio Pinar Invitational, being played at the Rio Pinar Golf & Country Club.

Apyan had rounds of 71 and 68 to sit in fifth place.

Wes Carter is tied for 16th with nine other golfers at one-under par 143 after rounds of 70 and 73.

Sophomore Tyler Sparks shot a four-over 148 (74-74), which put him in a 54th-place tie. Kyle Ramey and Alex Park are tied for 80th-place. Ramey shot rounds of 77 and 77 and Park tallied rounds of 76 and 78, for a total of 154.

Host school UCF leads the team scoring with 561 overall strokes (287-274). Wichita State is in second with 567 strokes (284-283), while Ole Miss sits in third with 570 strokes (280-290). Louisville is in fourth at 573 (288-285), followed by Iowa State in fifth at 574 (292-288), Ohio State in sixth at 577 (288-289), UT-Arlington (290-288) and Memphis (295-283) at 578 and Kentucky in ninth with 579 strokes (293-286).

Chattanooga sits in tenth with 580 strokes (291-289), followed by Southern Miss with 583 (291-292), North Florida with 584 (295-289), Tulsa with 586 (288-298), Old Dominion with 588 (295-293), Mercer (298-292) and South Alabama (297-293) with 590, USF with 603 (299-304) and Arkansas State with 611 (315-296).

Greg Forest of UCF leads the tournament by two strokes. Forest opened with a 70, and then bettered that in the second round by firing a 64 for a total 134.

The tournament finishes up Tuesday morning with the final 18. Play begins at 8:00 a.m. from the No. 1 and No. 10 holes.