March 26, 2000

STATESBORO, Ga. -- Lucas Glover, John Engler, Jonathan Byrd and D.J. Trahan all had under-par tournaments, leading Clemson to a second-place team finish at the Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, GA.

Clemson shot 282 on Sunday, the best team score of the day, but the Tigers could not overcome defending national champion Georgia, who had a 15 stroke lead entering the final day and finished with an 829 score. The Tigers were second with an 846 team score, six strokes ahead of third place NC State, who had 852. Clemson's 846 score was its second best 54-hole team score of the year.

Florida and Duke tied for fourth with 861 scores, while Augusta State wassixth at 865 and South Carolina was seventh at 869. TCU was eighth at 870, while Northwestern, ranked third in the nation entering the event, was ninth at 872, 26 strokes behind the Tigers.

Clemson had four players under par for the tournament, the first time all year Clemson has done that. It was a consistent event for the Tigers who were at least five under-par for all three rounds, the only team in the tournament to do that.

Glover and Engler, both juniors, had scores of 210 for the tournament. Engler was Clemson's top golfer on Sunday with a 68, while Glover had a 70, his third straight round at par or better. Both players finished fifth in the individual race. It was the fifth top 10 finish of the year for Glover and the fourth for Engler.

Jonathan Byrd was the only Tiger to shoot under par in all three rounds, scoring rounds of 70-71-71. His 212 score was good enough for 12th individually.

D.J. Trahan, who had won the Las Vegas Invitational in his last outing, had a solid 215 score and finished 18th. He shot a 73 on Sunday and is now 11-under-par for the year. He is on pace to break John Engler's Clemson freshman scoring average record.

Jani Saari shot a 76 on Sunday and finished with a 226 score for the event. The native of Greenville had 72 in the second round for his best 18 of the tournament.

Clemson will next be in action April 7-9 at the United States Collegiate in San Lucas, Mexico. The final two days of that event will be televised by ESPN-2.

Clemson at Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational