Men?s Golf Struggles at North Ranch

WEST LAKE VILLAGE, Calif. ? Eric Hastings shot a career-low 67 in Monday's opening round of the 30th annual USC Collegiate Invitational, but little else went right on a day Oregon just managed to stay out of the cellar at the par-71, 6,742-yard North Ranch Country Club.

Hastings, a senior from Spokane, Wash., who was competing for the Ducks in a counting tournament for the first time since the 2005 USC Collegiate, carded a 6-over 77 in the second round and finished the day tied for 14th at 2-over 144.

Oregon was 14th of 15 teams at 599, following rounds of 294-305. The Ducks were a stroke better than Washington State's 600.

Host USC held the two-round lead at even-par 568. No. 2 Stanford was a shot back at 569, while No. 12 UCLA (570) and No. 15 Tennessee (574) were also in the hunt. The Ducks need to make up eight strokes in Tuesday's final round for a top-10 finish. Loyola Marymount was 10th at 591, followed by Oregon State (592), Coastal Carolina (593) and Texas Tech (595) in 13th.

Jamie Lovemark was at 6-under 136, while Rory Hie was at 137 to help the 10th-ranked Trojans to the team lead. Lovemark was tied with Brian Locke of Loyola Marymount in the individual medalist race, while Hie was tied for third.

Live scoring for the USC Collegiate Invitational will be available on line at www.golfstat.com.

USC Collegiate Invitational

North Ranch Country Club

West Lake Village, Calif.

First and Second Rounds

6,742-yards, Par 71

Team Standings - 1, USC, 291-277-568. 2, Stanford, 284-285-569. 3, UCLA, 281-289-570. 4, Tennessee, 284-290-574. 5, California, 288-297-585. 6, Brigham Young, 291-295-586. 7, Texas Christian, 297-291-588. 8, Pepperdine, 288-301-589. 9, Oklahoma, 292-298-590. 10, Loyola Marymount, 292-299-591. 11, Oregon State, 294-298-592. 12, Coastal Carolina, 294-299-593. 13, Texas Tech, 299-296-595. 14, Oregon, 294-305-599. 15, Washington State, 303-297-600.

Top Individuals - T1, Brian Locke, Loyola Marymount, 69-67-136; Jamie Lovemark, USC, 72-64-136. T3, Erik Flores, UCLA, 68-69-137; Rory Hie, USC, 69-68-137; Philip Pettitt, Tennessee, 67-70-137.

Oregon Results - T14, Eric Hastings, 67-77-144. T45, Joey Benedetti, 77-72-149. T55, Matt Ma, 74-78-152. T67, Derek Sipe, 77-78-155. T74, Jay Snyder, 76-82-158.

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