July 26, 2003

After shooting a fifth-place 5-under par 65 in the first round of the Porter Cup Wednesday, Navy's Billy Hurley (Leesburg, Va.) followed up with a 68 to own a two-day 7-under par 133. He is currently in ninth place, seven strokes out of the lead and two strokes back from fifth place.

Leading the way after two rounds is Vanderbilt's Brandt Snedeker who was tied for the lead after the first round. He has been one of the most consistent players this far in the tournament, shooting a first-round 63 and following up with an 8-under par 62 to hold a one stroke lead over a charging Bill Haas. Haas, a 2003 US Open participant and First-Team All-American who tied a Niagara Falls Country Club course record in last year's Porter Cup with a third-round 62, was tied for ninth after the first round with his 4-under par 66. He stunned the field Thursday by breaking the course record with a 10-under par 60 to leapfrog into second place with a 14-under par 126.

Two other players, Peter Tomasulo and Gregg Jones Jr., found their way into the top 10 Thursday. Tomasulo, a junior at Cal Berkeley who earned Third-Team All-America honors this past spring, was tied for 13th going into the second round, but his 7-under par 63 lifted him to a tie for third with a 10-under par 130. Meanwhile, Jones, a member of the 2003 NCAA Championship winning Clemson Tigers, was near 20th after round one, but he put together a 6-under par 64 to push him into the top 10 at eighth, just a stroke ahead of Hurley.

The 45th Annual Porter Cup features some of the premier amateur golfers in the country with 26 of the top-32 players as ranked by Golfweek/Titleist participating in the 72-hole medal-play event. Through the years, many of the greats of today have participated in the Porter Cup. PGA stars such as Tiger Woods, Davis Love III, Tom Lehman, Hal Sutton and Justin Leonard have competed, while Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Scott Verplank have won the title. Third-round action of the Porter Cup continues Friday.