McGovern T-2 after opening-round 64 at Princeton Invitational

PRINCETON, NJ Wyatt McGovern carded one of the lowest rounds in Columbia men’s golf history, shooting a 7-under-par 64 to open the Princeton Invitational. The first two rounds of the tournament took place on Saturday at Springdale Golf Club.

Starting on the par-4 second, McGovern birdied five of the first six holes to quickly get to 4 under. Aside from his par-5 fourth bogey, the sophomore from Hillsborough, Calif., was bogey-free late in the round. He birdied 13, 16 and 17 to get to 7 under and bogeyed the 18th and his closing first.

McGovern’s 64 tied Omer Salamat’s second-lowest round in program history and is alone second-lowest against par. Nathan Hahn owns both records with an 11-under-par 60 earlier this fall at Lake Placid.

The players went straight to their second round, with McGovern emerging as the opener. He recovered by dropping one hole, which he bogeyed in the first round, but suffered bogeys on seven and nine to go 2 over in his round. McGovern established himself with four straight pars before birdieing 14 and 16 for a second-round even-par 71.

64 | Wyatt McGovern career-low 7-under 64 to start Princeton Invitational! #RoarLionRoar pic.twitter.com/SUqSRPIvqX

Columbia Men’s Golf Team (@CULionsMGolf) April 8, 2023

McGovern (-7) is in a two-way tie with Seton Hall’s George Fricker. They both emulate Harvard’s individual leader Brian Ma (-9), who shot rounds of 66 and 67 to clinch a spot in Sunday’s round of 18.

Lions (-2) is fourth in the team competition. Not far behind McGovern is Han (-5) alone in fourth, who went 69-68 to continue his stellar junior campaign. The next closest team competition is lion Pat Healy (+3) equal to 42. DJ Francey (+8) and Alvin Kwak (+11) are just among the top 70 in the 78-man field. Darren Pang (E) has to share 23. and competes as an individual.

Harvard (-13) holds a six-shot lead over tournament host Princeton (-7) in the 14-team series. Columbia and Yale (-2) are two shots behind Seton Hall (-4). These five teams are the only ones below par in the tournament.

Sunday’s final round begins with a shotgun start at 10 a.m. ET. There will be live results in the future available at Golfstat.

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