June 17, 2004

Ens. Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.) used a second-round 6-under par 64 to move into the lead of the Monroe Invitational Championship played at the par 70 Monroe Golf Club in Pittsford, N.Y.

Hurley turned in a 2-under par 68 in the first round and was in a eight-way tie for eighth after the first 18 holes on Wednesday. The field as a whole shot very well on the first day, but tournament directors put a spin on things by dramatically changing the pin positions for Thursday's second round.

"I'm not sure if it was because everyone shot so well yesterday or not, but they changed the course dramatically," said Hurley. "The placement of the pins was interesting and made for a difficult course."

If there was any question of the difficulty of round two, one would look no further than North Carolina's Kevin Silva who dropped from eighth to 37th after a tough second day on the links. He turned in a 2-under par 68 in the first round, but in Thursday's round, he shot a 6-over par to drop nearly 30 positions.

Hurley's second-round 64 is the lowest round of the tournament so far, bettering defending champion Brent Delahoussaye's mark of 65 in the first round. Delahoussaye held a 1-stroke lead over UNC-Greensboro's Andy Bare after the first round and a 3-stroke lead over Hurley to lead the field. Bare dropped into a tie for 10th after posting a 2-over par 72 in the second round, while Delahoussaye also shot a 2-over par, putting him in a tie for seventh at 3-under following Thursday's action.

Hurley took the lead after producing birdies on holes 3, 5, 7, 9, 12, 17 and 18, with his lone bogey coming on the 213-yard par-3 sixth hole. His efforts vaulted him to the top of the leader board with an 8-under par 132, where he holds a 2-stroke lead over Alex Hamilton (134, -6) of South Carolina and a 4-stroke lead over four players tied for third with a 4-under par 136.

Third round action is set for Friday morning with Hurley teeing off at 9 a.m.

2004 Monroe Invitational Championship Leader Board
(through two of four rounds)
1. Billy Hurley, Navy 68-64 132 -8
2. Alex Hamilton, South Carolina 68-66 134 -6
3. Jeff Wolniewicz, Binghamton 70-66 136 -4
Matthew Bortis, Arkansas 67-69 136 -4
Kyle Reifers, Wake Forest 70-66 136 -4
Bronson La'Cassie, Minnesota 67-69 136 -4
7. Michael Schachner, Illinois (HS) 67-70 137 -3
Matt Davidson, Furman 68-69 137 -3
Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson 65-72 137 -3
10. Michael Quagliano, New York (HS) 68-70 138 -2
Ben Hayes, USC 70-68 138 -2
Scott Carlyle, California 71-67 138 -2
Andy Bare, UNC-Greensboro 66-72 138 -2
Jonathan Moore, Oregon (HS) 68-70 138 -2