St. Simons Island, Ga. – Western Carolina has three golfers among the top 12 in the individual standings – two as a part of the scoring five and one individual – as the Catamounts sit in a two-way tie for fifth place after 36 of the scheduled 54 holes at the Peoples Golf Championship at Sea Palms Resort. Defending event champion Davidson enters the final 18 holes atop the team standings, poised to become the first program to repeat as champion in the short history of the tournament.
 
Redshirt senior Pablo Hernandez vaulted 28 positions on Friday with a second-round score of 3-under par 68 to give him a two-day total of 140 to climb inside the Top 10, pacing the Catamount scoring five. Playing unattached as an individual, Kiefer Bulau climbed 14 spots from a 23rd-place tie to match Hernandez in a tie for ninth after two rounds. The Canadian-born striker followed up his opening-round even-par 71 with a career-low 2-under par second-round 69 on Friday and has seven birdies over the opening 36 holes.
 
Sophomore transfer Ivan Ninkovic is down four in the standings, tied with six others in a tie for 12th at 1-under par 141 as WCU's third golfer among the leaders.
 
The tournament's final round is scheduled for Saturday, March 9, with tee times bumped up by 30 minutes based on the impending threat of late-afternoon inclement weather. Teams will tee off on both the front and back nine beginning at 7:30 a.m. Live scoring is available online through Leaderboard King with links at CatamountSports.com.
 
Hernandez countered a pair of bogeys and a double-bogey with seven birdies on Friday to shoot 3-under par 68 in his march towards the top of the leaderboard. He is tied with two others including Bulau for ninth. Ninkovic countered four bogeys – all on the back nine – with a trio of birdies to shoot 1-over par 72 after shooting 2-under par 69 on Thursday for a two-day score of 141.
 
Fifth-year senior Magnus Pedersen, who led the Catamounts through the opening 18 holes, battled through a second-round 6-over par 77, charting three more birdies in sliding into a tie for 37th. Rounding out WCU's scoring five are freshmen Andrew Korytoski in a tie for 75th at 9-over par 151 and Jace Butcher, tied for 93rd at 11-over par 153.
 
Bulau leads the four Catamount individuals in a tie for ninth with freshman Michael Bevins in a tie for 46th after two rounds at 146, tallying a trio of birdies on Friday. Redshirt sophomore Josh Lendach charted three birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 484-yard fourth to advance 16 positions into a tie for 60th overall at 6-over par 148. Freshman Dalton Payne slid into a tie for 112th after a second-round 84, in the clubhouse at 158.
 
First-round leader Davidson lengthened its lead through 36 holes, matching the fifth-best round in the tournament's brief history with a 273 on Friday for a two-day total of 547. The Wildcats carry a 13-stroke advantage over Drexel into Saturday's final round as the Dragons posted rounds of 281 and 279 for a total of 560. Xavier sits in third at even-par 568, followed by Wright State (569) in fourth, and a two-way tie between WCU and Belmont at 570.
 
Wright State's Shane Ochs continues to pace the 128-golfer field with a 9-under par 133, leading the two-way tie for second between Davidson's Joshua Stewart and Will Davis at 8-under par 134. Three golfers sit tied for fourth, four strokes off the pace at 5-under par 137.
 
The 54-hole event concludes Saturday with the third and final round from the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort. A complete recap will be made available after the conclusion of play.
 
T5 – Western Carolina – 280 – 290 = 570 (+2)
T9 – Pablo Hernandez – 72 – 68 = 140 (-2)
T12 – Ivan Ninkovic – 69 – 72 = 141 (-1)
T37 – Magnus Pedersen – 68 – 77 = 145 (+3)
T75 – Andrew Korytoski – 78 – 73 = 151 (+9)
T93 – Jace Butcher – 71 – 82 = 153 (+11)
T9 – Kiefer Bulau (ind.) – 71 – 69 = 140 (-2)
T46 – Michael Bevins (ind.) – 71 = 75 = 146 (+4)
T60 – Josh Lendach (ind.) – 75 – 73 = 148 (+6)
T112 – Dalton Payne (ind.) – 74 – 84 = 158 (+16)