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ORLANDO, Fla. – The George Mason University golf team posted one of the top-3 combined scores in its Atlantic 10 Championship history during a stellar second round of play Saturday afternoon at Grand Cypress Resort.
 
Mason shot a 288 total (E) – just three strokes off its all-time best A-10 round tallied in 2017. The Patriots posted one of the top-3 rounds of the day amongst the conference's 11 teams while moving up two spots on the leaderboard.
 
The Green & Gold six in sixth place (596, 308-288) after improving upon the team's round one score by an impressive 20 strokes. Mason enters final round action just four shots out of fourth place.
 
Once again, graduate student Connor Messick put together an outstanding round of golf on Saturday. After firing an opening round 72 (E), Messick improved upon that score by two strokes (70, -2) during his sensational 18 holes. That card included four birdies and just two bogies. He's tied for second (-2) in the field just two strokes behind leader Jack Lang of Davidson (-4).
 
On his front nine, Messick pitched a perfect third shot from the rough on the par-5 second hole and made his five-footer for birdie. Then, at the par-4 fourth, the Oak Hill, Va., product made birdie on the second straight day. He flew his tee shot nine feet over the hole, then made the tricky putt for the two.
 
On his back nine, Messick made arguably the most improbable birdie of the day. After opting to play his third shot from a grassy lie within the water hazard, Messick stripped down to his shorts only and flew a perfect pitch just 15 feet past the hole. He proceeded to re-don his Mason Green & Gold and nail the birdie putt. His birdie on the par-5 15^th also proved impressive. He went for the green in two, but landed in a treacherous lie on a bank well below the hole. But Messick pitched up to within four feet and made the putt for his fourth birdie.
 
Messick continues to lead the field in par-3 scoring (-2) and is t-3^rd in par-5 aggregate (-4).
 
Meanwhile, freshman Will Christian remained in the top-10 through 36 holes after a second round which quite frankly proved to be the direct opposite of his opening 18. After making a field-leading 16 pars in round one, the Norwell, Mass., native made just six in his second.
 
But his non-par holes included an outstanding seven birdies, many of which came as the direct result of wedge shots which landed with laser-like precision just feet from the hole. Christian was 2-under thru six holes, before playing the last three holes of his front nine in +4. However, he would not be rattled, and made birdie on four of his next five holes to retake command of his round. After adding birdie at No. 14, Christian ended his round with a 12-footer at the difficult 18^th to fire a 1-under par 71.

He currently is 10^th at a combined +1 (145, 74-71) with just 18 holes remaining.
 
"I was focused only on my next shot," Christian said. "I got a few bad bounces, but on the back nine I knew there were some gettable holes early and I took advantage. My wedges were good. I was able to make a lot of putts for par which kept the round going."
 
Freshman JP Miller made the biggest climb up the leaderboard for Mason Saturday, improving his standing 11 spots on the strength of excellent scrambling. He hit just four fairways on the day, but was able to accumulate 13 pars and just three bogeys. He made a pair of birdies, including one on No. 17 in which he nearly aced the par-3 with his tee shot.
 
Miller is t-34^th (155, 82-73) after improving on his round one score by nine shots.
 
Similar round-to-round improvements benefited junior Jeff Wilson, who also made a nine-stroke jump with a second round 74. He is t-41^st (83-74, 157). Wilson birdied the opening hole for the second-straight day, then rattled off five-straight pars. He then jump started his back nine with a birdie on 10 and converted a slippery 10-footer for birdie on the par-3 12^th.
 
Rounding out the Mason group, junior Takahiro Nojima made lengthy birdies on a pair of par-3s, including a dunk from some 20-feet on the eighth hole. He played well overall, but his round suffered from a pair of late triple bogeys on each nine. He is 49^th at +18 (80-82, 162).
 
The Patriots begin final round play Sunday at 7:30 a.m. in Orlando, Fla.
 
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