St. Simons Island, Ga. – Western Carolina's Jace Butcher and Tyler Jones mirrored one another on Friday with matching scores of 2-under par 69, both advancing into a three-way tie for third in guiding the Catamount men's golf team to the top of the leaderboard with 18 holes to play at The Peoples Championship at Sea Palms Resort.

Western Carolina (559) holds a four-stroke lead over fellow Southern Conference foe Samford (563), as the Bulldogs enter the final round in the runner-up position. Xavier (564) moved to within a stroke of Samford and five back of the Catamounts in third as both the Musketeers and future SoCon foe Tennessee Tech (568) posted second-round team scores of 4-under par to climb to third and fourth, respectively.

Villanova (569) slipped into a tie for fifth with Valparaiso (569) ahead of Saturday's final 18 holes of competition at the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort.

The top three teams – WCU, Samford, and Xavier – comprise the final pairings to hit the course on Saturday, opening the championship round off the first tee box at 1:50 p.m. WCU's "B" team also opens on hole No. 1 beginning at Noon.

The final round begins at 8:30 a.m. with set tee times off the first and 10th tee. Live scoring is available online through Leaderboard King (leaderboardking.com).

Butcher countered a pair of bogeys with two birdies on the back nine, turning for home at even-par. The Kennesaw, Ga., product closed his round with a pair of birdies to go along with seven pars, shooting 2-under on the front nine for the second-day total of 69 and a two-round score of 137.

Jones likewise had two birdies and two bogeys on the back nine before a third bogey on the par-3, 184-yard third hole relegated him to 1-over for the day. The redshirt sophomore from Jacksonville, N.C., closed his day with a trio of birdies over his final six holes. He matched Butcher with a two-round score of 137 as the two are tied for third entering the final 18 holes.

Butcher and Jones rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in par-4 scoring at -3 (3.83) and -2 (3.89), while Butcher is tied for third in par-5 scoring (-5, 4.38). Butcher also has a team-best 11 birdies, tied for third in the field, while Jones has carded 10.

Freshman Connor Williams advanced 10 spots in the standings with a second-round 1-over par 72, for a two-day total of 143. Williams had four bogeys against a birdie on the back nine, turning to the front at 3-over par. He closed the day with three birdies against a fifth bogey and posted par on the final five holes of the day. Williams is tied for third in par-3 scoring at 1-under (2.90) on the shortest layouts, and enters the final round with eight birdies.

Rounding out WCU's scoring are senior Ivan Ninkovic and junior Andrew Korytoski in a tie for 67th overall at 148. Korytoski, who leads WCU with 26 pars over the opening 36 holes, knocked four strokes off his opening round score to shoot 1-over par 72 on Friday.

WCU's top lineup is third in the field with 38 combined birdies, and ranks third in both par-3 (+5, 3.10) and par-5 (-12, 4.70) scoring.

Western Carolina's team of individuals, or the Catamount "B" squad at The Peoples Championship, is 20th overall, just two strokes in arrears of Murray State and seven ahead of Mount St. Mary's. WCU's second grouping has posted back-to-back rounds of 299 on Thursday and Friday.

Junior Michael Bevins advanced 13 positions in the second round, following his first-round 74 with a 2-over par 73 for the two-day total of 147. Redshirt senior Josh Lendach slid into a tie for 67th at 148 (72-76), with freshman Charlie Coe in a tie for 77th overall (149). Rounding out the "B" unit are junior Dalton Payne and freshman Hayden Magnussen in a tie for 111th overall with matching scores of 157. Payne improved by a stroke in the second round, while Magnussen carved seven strokes off his second 18 holes with a 4-over par 75.

Samford's Gavin Isbell followed his opening-round 66 with a 2-under par 69 on Friday to sit tied atop the individual leaderboard with Cayse Morgan of Xavier, who fired 66 in the second round to climb into the fray. The two have a two-stroke lead over the WCU tandem of Butcher and Jones, with Callan Fahey of Providence also among the three-way tie for third at 5-under par 137.

Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).

T1 – Western Carolina – 277 – 282 = 559 (-9)
T3 – Tyler Jones (1) – 68-69 = 137 (-5)
T3 – Jace Butcher (3) – 68-69 = 137 (-5)
T25 – Connor Williams (5) – 71-72 = 143 (+1)
T67 – Ivan Ninkovic (2) – 70-78 = 148 (+6)
T67 – Andrew Korytoski (4) – 76-72 = 148 (+6)
 
20 – Western Carolina 'B' – 299 – 299 = 598 (+30)
T58 – Michael Bevins (3) – 74-73 = 147 (+5)
T67 – Josh Lendach (2) – 72-76 = 148 (+6)
T77 – Charlie Coe (4) – 74-75 = 149 (+7)
T111 – Dalton Payne (1) – 79-78 = 157 (+15)