WEST POINT – Garrett Johnson thought he had drilled the putt.
Standing on the 18th green Monday at Old Waverly Golf Club, Johnson, a junior at Mississippi State, watched as his putt curved toward the hole.
Johnson made a face as the ball missed its mark. No matter. He tapped it in, completing two rounds of play in the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship just two strokes behind Marcus Byrd of Middle Tennessee State.
Johnson, who tied for fifth place in the Old Waverly tournament last year and began this year on fire with a win in the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate in Arizona, shot 3-under 69 twice on Monday to finish the day at 6 under par. He is tied with four others for third place and is the highest-placed Bulldog in the field entering Tuesday’s final round.
“I played solid all day,” Johnson said. “I was very comfortable on our own golf course. We play out here a lot. We prepared really well. I was just trying to hit the middle of the green, two-putt every hole and the birdies are going to fall in where they are.”
Just one shot behind Johnson are MSU’s Ross Bell and Cameron Clarke, both competing as individuals.
MSU freshman Ford Clegg was tied for first place at one point in the afternoon, but dropped into a tie for 16th place when he finished with a bogey-par-double bogey over his last three holes. He had been among a handful of golfers who shot 3-under 69 in the morning round.
“He played 33 really good holes,” MSU coach Dusty Smith said. “I don’t think he made a bogey for the first 33. Just an unfortunate finish. But that’s golf.”
As a team, the Bulldogs are in sixth place entering Tuesday’s play, just two strokes behind Middle Tennessee State in a battle for a top-five finish. The University of Louisiana Monroe is running away with the team title, sitting 22 shots under par and 7 shots ahead of fourth-ranked Vanderbilt. Their 12-under round on Monday afternoon tied a tournament record.
Five of the top 15 golfers are from MSU, but four of them are competing individually.
Playing one group ahead of Clegg, Johnson threw his arm up into the air with every birdie, striking up team support with one Bulldog situated in each of the last five threesomes.
“I wanted to get everybody in the feeling, ‘We’re in this, we’re always in this,'” Johnson said. “Just a simple raise of my hand, if that helps Ford, then I’m going to do it on every hole.”
The tournament, which is MSU’s only home date of the spring season, gave the Bulldogs a chance to stay at home for a competition the week before it hits the road for the SEC Championships in Georgia. On Sunday, following a practice round at Old Waverly, they sat around together and watched Tiger Woods win the Masters.
“I’m just really comfortable around this golf course,” Johnson said. “What it takes to win this event, you’ve got to put the ball in the fairway. That’s what I did really well today. If I can do it tomorrow, I have a good chance.”
“I felt very comfortable all day,” Clegg said. “I was kind of surprised. Usually at tournaments, I’m nervous. Today, I was just calm and ready to go.
“It’s good to be at home. My parents came. Good support out here, some of my friends came.”
Beau Briggs of Ole Miss is tied for fourth place, along with Johnson, helping the Rebels to a third-place standing entering play Tuesday.
Paul Bowker is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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