MACOMB, Ill. – Junior Danny Masrin (Palatine, Ill./Jakarta International School) is tied for second and the Bradley men's golf team is also tied for second in the team standings after two rounds of play at the 43rd annual Beu/Mussatto Invitational.
After shooting a 305 during a windy morning round, the Braves tied for low round honors in the afternoon with a one-over par 289 at the par-72 Harry Mussatto Golf Course Monday. Bradley, which won the team title at last year's Beu/Mussatto Invite, finished the day tied for second with Indian Hills Community College at 594, four shots behind first-place William Woods (590) and is in contention heading to the third and final round.
Masrin fired rounds of 72 and 74 to finish the day tied for second in the field at 146. He is two shots back of individual leader Matt Wells of William Woods heading into Tuesday's final round. The pair of sub-80 rounds moved Masrin into third in the school for career rounds in the 70's or better, pushing him ahead of Andy Mickelson with 91 career sub-80 scores during his time on The Hilltop.
Junior Lyle Burns (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour/Parkland) continued his strong play and joins Masrin in the top five. Burns is tied for fourth at 147, three shots off the lead, after rounds of 74 and 73.
Senior Seth Trolia (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) rebounded from a morning round 81, which snapped a streak of 21 consecutive sub-80 rounds, to tie his lowest round of the spring with a 3-under 69. The second-round 69 was Trolia's fifth round in the 60's this season and his school record eighth career round under 70. Trolia is tied for 13th in the field at 150, one shot out of the top 10.
Junior Garrett Cox (Mahomet, Ill./Seymour) followed up a first-round 79 by tying his lowest round of the season with a one-over 73. Cox is tied for 19th at 152. Freshman Matthew Specht (Munster, Ind./Munster) is 51st (165) to round out the team scoring for Bradley, turning in scores of 76 and 75 Monday.
Bradley also has a pair of individuals in the 59-person field, with freshman Daniel Lensing (Spring Park, Minn./Orono) firing his lowest round of the spring with a second-round 75 in addition to a first round 76 to close Monday's action tied for 16th (151).
The Braves have a 12-shot lead on fourth-place Nebraska-Omaha (606) and a 19-shot advantage on fifth-place IUPUI (613). Cardinal Stritch follows in sixth at 614, with tournament-host Western Illinois well off the pace in seventh (629). St. Ambrose is three back of WIU in eighth (632) and North Dakota State finished the day in ninth (636). A second team for Western Illinois completes the field in 10th at 657.
The final round of the 43rd annual Beu/Mussatto Invitational is scheduled to tee off at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
