March 15, 2016
First-Round Results
IRVING, Texas - After the first day of action at the competitive Bob Sitton Invitational here, the Missouri State men's golf team sits in 14th place in the team standings with two rounds to be played on the internationally-renown course.
Home to the PGA Tour's AT&T Byron Nelson event, the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas course just outside Dallas is the par-71, 6,767-yard venue for the three-day competition that includes 17 Division I squads.
Highlighting the first 18 holes for the Bears was a senior standout Joey Johnson who sits in 22nd place after carding a 74 in the opening round, just two strokes out of the top 10 and seven strokes off the lead.
Bears' sophomore John Fuchs posted a 76 Tuesday to share 40th place in the field of 102 competitors, while senior Mitch Mather registered a 78 to land in 59th place. Freshman teammates Kory Franks and Adam Fisher tallied identical 80 scores on the first 18 to share 72nd place for MSU.
Stephen F. Austin's Angelo Leyvani and LBSU's Daniel Chian lead the individual race after one round with four-under-par efforts of 67
As a team, Missouri State collected 50 pars over the first 18 holes, the eighth-best total in the field.
Long Beach State fired a one-over 285 in the first round to lead the team race, just ahead of Stephen F. Austin (287), host Oral Roberts (292) and Wyoming (296). Missouri State's score of 308 is tops among the event's three Missouri Valley Conference entries, setting the pace for fellow MVC teams Bradley (310) and Northern Iowa (311).
Competitors will play 18 more holes Wednesday before concluding the elite event on Thursday with the final round.
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