Alabama
Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational
JP Cave Fires Career-Low Round to Help Alabama Make Move Up the Leaderboard at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational
9/18/2021 3:53:00 PM | Men's Golf
Cave finishes at 4-under, Thomas Ponder cards 1-under to lead the Crimson Tide’s three-spot improvement during day two
CHICAGO – Alabama sophomore JP Cave carded a career-best round of 4-under par 66, while senior Thomas Ponder finished at 1-under 69 to lead the Crimson Tide men's golf team in Saturday's second round of the Olympia Fields CC/Fighting Illini Invitational. Thanks in large part to the duo's combined 5-under total on day two, Alabama jumped three spots into fifth overall with a team total of 573 (289-284) after 36 holes played.
The Crimson Tide had the fifth-lowest round Saturday out of the 15-team field, which features five of the top six teams in the nation. That includes sixth-ranked and defending national champion Pepperdine (574) who is one stroke behind Alabama in sixth overall.
This year's OFCC Invite is being held at the famed Olympia Fields Country Club North Course, a par-70, 7,205-yard track that has hosted two U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, five Western Opens and a U.S. Senior Open, among other high-level tournaments.
The Highlights
- Cave (75-66) and Ponder (72-69) are tied for 11th overall at 1-over 141 entering Sunday's third and final round of play
- Cave collected his seventh round in the 60s for his career and topped his former career-best single-round score of 68 which he recorded twice a year ago
- The Mobile, Ala., native did not record a single bogey, and finished with birdies on No.'s 2, 8, 15 and 18
- Ponder continued his solid play to start the season, recording his fourth round in the 60s out of the five rounds he played on the year
- Junior Canon Claycomb, who entered the day T-3rd after a 1-under 69 Friday, is in a tie for 19th with a 36-hole total of 2-over 142 (69-73)
- Tyler Lipscomb is in a tie for 54th with a 149 (73-76) while Jack Goldasich rounds out the Tide in a tie for 78th with a 156 (79-77)
The Field
- No. 6 North Carolina (561) owns the 36-hole clubhouse lead by three strokes over No. 5 Arizona State (564)
- Top-ranked Oklahoma State (568) is in third followed by Indiana (571), who is two strokes ahead of the Crimson Tide
- The 15-team field features five of the top six-ranked teams in the nation and 13 teams ranked among the top 40 in the newly-released Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll
Next Round
- The Tide will tee off round three at 8 a.m. CT off Hole No. 1
- Paired alongside Alabama will be Florida and Florida State
- Live scoring throughout the third and final round can be found on Golfstat.com
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMGolf, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
