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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
SEC Championship
Sweeney's Hole-In-One, Thornberry's Top-Three Finish Lift No. 21 Ole Miss To Match Play
4/22/2017 | Men's Golf
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A REBEL | STROKE PLAY RESULTS | Match Play Pairings 
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - Junior Kerry Sweeney fired a hole-in-one on the third hole to help lead No. 21 Ole Miss to a seventh-place finish and help the Rebels advance to match play at the SEC Men's Champion at Sea Island Golf Club Saturday.
The Melbourne, Florida native fired his first ever hole-in-one on the 204-yard, par 3 third hole to finish 2-under on the front nine and 1-under on the day. Sweeney finished 4-over par for the tournament and tied for 27th place. His performance Saturday helped lift the Rebels up two spots on the team leaderboard into a tie for seventh place to clinch a spot in the SEC Men's Championship match play tomorrow versus the No. 1 seed Vanderbilt.
"What a special day for Ole Miss golf," said head coach Chris Malloy. "This group really stepped up when they had to under the gun and had a great round of golf. Kerry's hole-in-one really kickstarted our day and energized the rest of the group."
Braden Thornberry proved to be one of the top golfers in the league, as the sophomore finished tied for third at 6-under par at Sea Island Golf Club. Thornberry tallied a 1-under 69 in the final round with four birdies to tie with Chandler Phillips of Texas A&M, as he earned his team-best eighth top-five finish of the season. The Olive Branch, Mississippi native will return to the Sea Island Course this November to participate in the RSM Classic, a PGA TOUR event, as a result of an exemption he earned from a five-stroke victory at the 2017 Jones Cup.
The Rebels posted their lowest round of the tournament at even-par 280 in the third round to finish in a tie with No. 27 Missouri at 12-over par. The Tigers will hold the seven seed tomorrow due to tie-breakers.
"The goal was to get in to the match play bracket and we have done that," said Malloy. "Now it's just survive and advance and anything can happen. We will be ready to play tomorrow morning. Vanderbilt has a great program and we look forward to getting this thing started."
Sophomore Josh Seiple fired two birdies on the back nine of his final round to finish even-par 70 on the round and his best round of the tournament moved him up to a tie for 43rd overall. Senior Ben Wolcott birdied the 565-yard, par 5 15th to finish the day with a 2-over par 72 and 6-over 216 for the tournament, good for a share of the 36th spot. Senior Noah West fired three birdies on the back nine to finish with a final round score of 75.
Match play begins tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM CST. For all Ole Miss Men's golf news and information, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMGolf, on Instagram at OleMissMGolf and on Facebook at facebook.com/OleMissMGolf. Fans can also follow head coach Chris Malloy on Twitter @CoachMalloy12.
Ole Miss Individuals
3. Braden Thornberry 69-66-69--204
T27. Kerry Sweeney 70-75-69--214
T36. Ben Wolcott 70-74-72--216
T43. Josh Seiple 73-75-70--218
T61. Noah West 74-76-75--225
Team Standings
1. No. 2 Vanderbilt - 276-281-272--829
2. No. 18 Texas A&M - 273-282-280--835
3. No. 3 LSU 278-284-275--837
4. No. 6 Florida 269-289-280--838
5. No. 34 South Carolina - 283-286-280--845
6. No. 36 Alabama - 275-288-288--851
T7. No. 21 Ole Miss - 282-290-280--852
T7. No. 27 Missouri - 284-279-289--852
T9. No. 20 Auburn - 278-287-291--856
T9. No. 23 Georgia - 291-289-276--856
11. No. 44 Kentucky - 292-289-276--857
12. No. 28 Arkansas - 299-292-268--859
13. Tennessee - 301-294-279--874
14. Mississippi State - 298-298-281--877
Players Mentioned
