April 21, 2008

By Kyle Herm
www.SIUSalukis.com

MVC Championship Day One Standings

PLEASANT VALLEY, Iowa - The Saluki men's golf team shot a 36-hole total of 581, and stands in second place overall after the first day of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship.

The two-round opening-day total ranked as the best 36-hole start in the MVC Tournament since the team joined the Valley in 1975.

Southern Illinois opened the day with a 7-over-par 291, just four strokes off the current leader, Wichita State, and improved one stroke better in the second round with a 6-over 290.

The Shockers posted scores of 3-over 287, and a tournament-low 5-under-par 279 for a two-round total of 566.

SIU shot 14-strokes better than their next closest opponent, with Evansville (595), and Creighton (595) tied in a distant third at 27-over-par, while Drake (597), Northern Iowa (598) and Illinois State (599) are separated by only three strokes at fifth, sixth and seventh place.

Missouri State stands in eighth after shooting an opening-day 606, and Bradley rounds out the field standing in ninth place with a 626.

Individually the Salukis have three players currently in the top-10, with junior John Danielson tied for fifth at 1-over-par (143), sophomore Jordan Cox tied for seventh at 3-over (145), and junior Phillip Collier tied for ninth at 4-over-par (146).

Danielson, who hails from Marshalltown, Iowa, about 150 miles from the site of the tournament, also tied the fifth-lowest 18-hole score of the day in his second round with a 1-under-par 70, including an eagle on the par-5, 490-yard 12th hole.

Sophomore Blake Driskell, who entered the competition as the only SIU golfer with previous MVC Tournament experience, stands close behind at tied for 13th with a 5-over-par total of 147, and junior Todd Obergoenner recorded a 76 in both rounds to stand tied for 26th with a 152.

Wichita State put three of its five golfers in the top five after the first day, including tournament leader, Connor McHenry who currently stands as the only golfer under par at 4-under. McHenry shot a 5-under 66 in his second round to move into the lead.

The Salukis will try to claim their first ever MVC Title in the final 18 holes on Tuesday beginning at 8 a.m. at the par-71, 6,633-yard Davenport Country Club, in Pleasant Valley, Iowa.