What You Need to Know:
* Georgia state shot rounds of 286 and 288 to stand in third place following two rounds of the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate.
* Senior JJ Grey stands tied for third following rounds of 68 and 71. He finished third in the same event two years ago.
* Live scoring of the event can be found at GolfStat.com
MOBILE, Ala. – Led by senior JJ Grey, Georgia State opened the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate in third place on Monday at the Magnolia Grove Falls Golf Course. Grey stands tied for third as the Panthers compete with the top two teams in the country among the 15-team field.
Grey shot rounds of 68 and 71 to stand at 5-under par with 18 holes to play and just one shot out of second. His day started with three-straight birdies as he finished with eight total on the day. He is looking for a repeat of his third-place performance in the event two years ago.
Georgia State shot rounds of 286 and 288 to sit at 2-under, trailing only No. 1 Auburn and Chattanooga. The Panthers lead No. 2 Wake Forest by a stroke entering the final round.
“The funny thing is that as well as we played today, we still left a lot of strokes on the course,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We had a couple of big numbers and some three-putts that cost us, but we are still in position to have a great result in a very good field. We need to finish strong on Tuesday to build some momentum as the spring season continues.”
Junior Nathan Mallonee rebounded from an opening round 76 to shoot a 1-under 71 in the afternoon to stand at 3-over and tied for 32nd. Mallonee finished in the top 25 of all five fall events. He is tied with teammates Alexander Herrmann and Nick Budd who each shot rounds of 71 and 76.
Budd shot a 6-under 30 on the front nine during the morning round which included an eagle on the par 5 sixth hole.
Sophomore Max Herrmann rounded out the line-up with rounds of 78 and 70 to sit tied for 40th at 4-over.
No. 1 Auburn shot rounds of 278 and 282 to stand at 16-under par with one round to play. The Tigers lead Chattanooga which stands in second place at 8-under, followed by the Panthers in third at 2-under. No. 2 Wake Forest is fourth at 1-under, followed by Kansas State at 1-over to round out the top five.
Auburn's Michael Johnson, ranked No. 5 in the country, shot 66-68 to stand at 10-under and holds a four-stroke lead entering the final round. South Alabama's Peter Staalbo is second at 6-under, followed by Grey and Auburn's Matt Gilchrest in third at 5-under. Auburn's Jake Mondy rounds out the top five at 3-under par.
South Alabama is also hosting a separate individual tournament this week in which four Panthers are participating. Freshman James Kyles is 18th at 8-over par following rounds of 73 and 77.
Freshman Nathan Williams is 27th at 11-over after shooting rounds of 77 and 76. Freshman Sam Asbury stands 29th after rounds of 75 and 80, while Hayden Poole is 30th following rounds of 79 and 77.
Live scoring can be found throughout the tournament at Golfstat.com. Due to concern for weather, teams will play the final 18 holes in a shotgun start beginning at 9:30 a.m. ET. Georgia State will be paired with Auburn and Chattanooga.
Following the event, Georgia State will return to the course March 6-8, at the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn at Grand National Golf Club. The Panthers finished third at the event last season.
