April 30, 2005

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Fueled by a strong second round, Northwestern is in fifth place at this weekend's Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational, which is being held at Michigan State's Forest Akers West Golf Course.

Led by sophomore Chris Wilson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman), Northwestern shot the second-best second round (a 1-under 287) and is sitting in fifth place, just four strokes behind second-place Michigan State and one stroke back of Indiana and Minnesota. Those are the three top-ranked teams in the Big Ten, as well.

Xavier is comfortably in front of the 15-team field with a 10-stroke advantage over the Spartans.

Wilson, who has been the Wildcats' most consistent performer this spring, fired a 3-under 69 in the opening round and a 73 in the second. He is seven strokes behind Indiana's Jeff Overton, who had rounds of 68 and 67 on Saturday.

Freshman Dan Doyle (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek) shot an even-par 72 in the second round and is 2-over (74-72=146) and in 14th place. Sophomore David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union) led NU's second-round surge, carding a 2-under 70 after a 77 on the opening 18 holes. He is in 20th place.

Junior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) also shaved seven strokes off his first-round score, firing rounds of 79 and 72 for a 7-over 151, which has him sitting 46th. Freshman Kyle Moore (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) is in 54th place with an 8-over 152 (77-75).

The third and final round is scheduled for Sunday morning.

Live scoring and results are available for the tournament by linking to Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational. Other tournament information can be found at Michigan State Men's Golf.