Albers, Trojans Both Lead After 36 Holes at Sun Belt Championship

EL DORADO, Ark. – Little Rock holds the team lead and Anton Albers is first among the individual competitors after 36 holes of stroke play at the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship, being held at Mystic Creek Golf Club. The Trojans sit at 6-over 582 after the first two rounds, two shots better than second-place Georgia Southern with Albers at 1-under 143.
 
2022 Sun Belt Conference Championship Day One Results
 
Marcel Rauch joins Albers in the top-five, sitting tied for second among the individual field at 1-over 145, two shots back.
 
Due to expected thunderstorms Monday, the decision was made to push the first two rounds of stroke play to Sunday. Little Rock came out strong in round one, carding an even-par 288 to hold a four shot lead on Georgia Southern. Albers fired the low round of the day with a 2-under 70, including a 4-under 32 on the front nine.
 
Rauch and Nico Horder were both even after round one as the duo was tied for third with the 72. Rauch opened his round with 10-straight pars, finishing even on both sides, while Horder went 1-over on the front nine, answered by 1-under on the back.
 
In round two, Little Rock posted a 6-over 294, maintaining its spot atop the leaderboard as Georgia Southern closed the gap by two strokes, sitting two shots back at 8-over 584. Jansen Smith posted the low score in round two for the Trojans with a 1-under 71, followed by a 1-over 73 from both Albers and Rauch.
 
Through 36 holes, the Trojans lead the Eagles by two shots and sit 12 up on third-place UT Arlington (18-over 584). Little Rock is 18 shots better than fourth-place Georgia State (24-over 600), 19 better than fifth-place ULM (25-over 601) and 20 shots ahead of sixth-place App State (26-over 602). The top four teams in the standings after stroke play advance to the match play championship on Wednesday.
 
Individually, Albers holds a two shot advantage for first, ahead of Rauch and Georgia Southern's Ben Carr, the number-two ranked golfer in the Sun Belt. Smith and Magnus Lomholt are tied for 22nd individually at 7-over 151 after Smith shot an 80-71 and Lomholt carded a 74-77. Horder is tied for 48th following his 72-85 on day one.
 
With the first two rounds being played Sunday, teams will have the day off Monday to allow the expected thunderstorms to run their course. Stroke play will resume Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. with the Trojans playing with Georgia Southern and UT Arlington, teeing off in wave one from hole one. Horder will get things started at 7:30 a.m., leading up to Albers' 8:06 a.m. tee time.
 
Live coverage of the final round will be available on ESPN+ with live scoring at GolfStat.com.
 
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