Spartanburg, S.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore transfer Tyler Jones climbed two positions atop the individual leaderboard as the Catamounts slipped into a tie for second in the team chase on Monday after 36 holes at the Wofford Invitational, hosted at the par-71, 6,720-yard Country Club of Spartanburg.
 
Jones is in the clubhouse with a two-day score of 7-under par 135. He is a stroke clear of Cameron Baez from USC Aiken and holds a two-stroke advantage over USF's Jackson Spybey in third place entering Tuesday's final round, which opens with a 9 a.m. shotgun start.
 
Live scoring for the third round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
 
No. 49 USF was six strokes better than the Catamounts on Monday to leapfrog to the tournament lead by three strokes with 18 holes to play, while USC Aiken, ranked 19th in NCAA Division II, advanced two spots into a tie with WCU at 8-under par, 560. Winthrop (566) and a two-way tie between Mercer and event-host Wofford at 574, rounding out the tournament top five.
 
A day after posting a blemish-free round, Jones was well on his way to a second one in Monday's round two. Opening on the back nine, the Jacksonville, N.C., native made the turn to the front nine at 5-under par, charting five birdies and four pars. He was 13 holes into his second 18 before his first bogey, coming on the par-4, 470-yard fifth, before closing his round with a second on the par-4, 370-yard ninth. The two bogeys are the fewest carded by any competitor through two rounds.
 
Even with the two bogeys on par-4 holes, Jones leads the field in par-4 scoring at 5-under (3.77), while also ranking tied for second on the shortest layouts in par-3 scoring (1-under, 2.88). Jones has a team-best nine birdies through 36 holes, while his 25 pars lead the squad and are tied for fifth in the field.
 
Junior Andrew Korytoski climbed six spots into a tie for 12th, just six strokes off the pace at 1-under par 141, following his first-round 70 with an even-par round of 71 on Monday. The Cataula, Ga., product countered four bogeys with four birdies, including three on the back nine to start his day. His classmate, Jace Butcher, slipped into a tie for 22nd overall with a second-round score of 2-over par. Butcher countered five bogeys with a trio of birdies. Consecutive bogeys on holes No. 5 and No. 6 relegated him to 2-over for the day as he carded three-straight pars to get through 36 holes.
 
Senior Ivan Ninkovic was WCU's biggest gainer on the second day, rallying 26 positions into a tie for 46th overall with a two-round score of 6-over par 148, while junior Michael Bevins heads into Tuesday with a two-day total of 147. Ninkovic countered five bogeys with a pair of birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 516-yard No. 1. Ninkovic joins Butcher as two Catamounts to have carded eagles.
 
Playing unattached as individuals, junior Dalton Payne is tied for 65th with a two-day total of 152, while freshman Charlie Coe is 83rd at 159 through two rounds. Payne had a busy second round with five birdies to give him six for the event, while Coe posted his fifth birdie with one on Monday.
 
Tournament action concludes Tuesday with a shotgun start at 9 a.m. WCU's lineup hits the course between Holes No. 2 through No. 4, with the individuals teeing off on hole No. 16.
 
T2 – Western Carolina – 276 – 284 = 560 (-8)
1 – Tyler Jones – 67-68 = 135 (-7)
T12 – Andrew Korytoski – 70-71 = 141(-1)
T22 – Jace Butcher – 70-73 = 143 (+1)
T39 – Michael Bevins – 69-78 = 147 (+5)
T46 – Ivan Ninkovic – 76-72 = 148 (+6)
T65 – Dalton Payne (ind.) – 75-77 = 152 (+10)
83 – Charlie Coe (ind.) – 74-85 = 159 (+17)