May 7, 2005

VERONA, Wis. -- Northwestern fired its best team round of the season -- an 8-under 280 -- and climbed to fourth place following Saturday's second round at the 85th Big Ten Men's Golf Championships. Unfortunately for the 'Cats, Indiana and Michigan State notched lower rounds, 13- and 12-under, respectively, to maintain a comfortable edge on the rest of the Big Ten field.

The Hoosiers and Spartans are tied for the team lead at 18-under with one round to play. Minnesota is in third place, at 8-under for the tournament. The Wildcats are in fourth place (2-under, 294-280=574), tied with Purdue.

Freshman Dan Doyle paced the Wildcats' strong second round, shooting a career-best 4-under 68. With the exception of the par-3 17th, where he carded a double bogey, Doyle played an outstanding round with six birdies and 11 pars. He is now 1-over (77-68=145) for the tournament and in 15th place.

Three other Wildcats turned in under-par scores: sophomore David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union), freshman Kyle Moore (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) and junior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) were 2-under, 1-under and 1-under, respectively, in the second round. Moore is now NU's top golfer, sitting ninth at 1-under (72-71=143). Merkow jumped to 15th place (1-over 145, 75-70) and Dougherty is in 41st place (5-over, 78-71=149).

Sophomore Chris Wilson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) is 12th overall with an even-par 144 (70-74).

Indiana's Jeff Overton maintained his three-stroke lead in the individual championship race. He fired a 7-under 65 for the second straight day and is 14-under through 36 holes.

The third and final round is slated to begin at 8 a.m. Sunday.

Live scoring and results are available for the tournament by linking to Big Ten Men's Golf Championships. Other tournament information can be found at Big Ten Men's Golf and Wisconsin Men's Golf.