June 18, 2004

A day after taking the lead at the Monroe Invitational Championship, Navy's Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.) maintained the lead, turning in a par 70.

Hurley, who owned a 2-stroke lead over South Carolina's Alex Hamilton after the second round, is now tied with Hamilton after the Gamecock produced a 2-under par 68 in the third round. The duo, which is 8-under par, holds a 2-stroke lead over Kevin Kisner of Georgia and Ben Hayes of USC.

Hurley had the distinction of turning in the lowest round of the tournament with his second-round 64, but was unseated when Jeff Bell, a sophomore at the University of Texas, came out of nowhere to post a 7-under par 63. He shot a 4-over par in the first round and a 6-over par in the second.

Kisner made a giant leap in the standings with a third-round 64. He moved up from 19th to third, just two strokes behind the leaders.

Final round action is set for Saturday morning with Hurley teeing off at 9 a.m.

2004 Monroe Invitational Championship Leader Board
(through two of four rounds)
1. Billy Hurley, Navy 68-64-70 202 -8
Alex Hamilton, South Carolina 68-66-68 202 -8
3. Kevin Kisner, Georgia 68-72-64 204 -6
Ben Hayes, USC 70-68-66 204 -6
5. Michael Quagliano, New York (HS) 68-70-67 205 -5
Matthew Bortis, Arkansas 67-69-69 205 -5
7. Scott Carlyle, California 71-67-68 206 -4
Michael Schachner, Illinois (HS) 67-70-69 206 -4
Matt Davidson, Furman 68-69-69 206 -4
Jeff Wolniewicz, Binghamton 70-66-70 206 -4
Kyle Reifers, Wake Forest 70-66-70 206 -4