HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – Following a postponement of the Saturday’s opening round of the BIG EAST Men’s Golf Championships presented by JEEP, Marquette holds a two-stroke lead through 36 holes at Riverton Pointe Golf and Country Club. The Golden Eagles’ final round begins tomorrow at 8:25 a.m. CT.
MU shot a combined 11-under par 565. DePaul sits in second at 9-under while Xavier is third at 8-under. It is the fifth time Marquette has held the lead at the championships after two rounds (2008, 2019, 2023, 2025, 2026).
The Golden Eagles and Musketeers spent much of the Sunday’s 11-hour day on the course going back and forth atop the leaderboard. MU took advantage of a late slip by Xavier while DePaul, which shot 6-under in the second round moved into second.
The Golden Eagles were steady throughout the opening round as they were the only team which had four counting scores under par. Mischa Candinas and Mason Schmidtke each carded a 2-under 70 while Vincent Cervantes and Johan Widal shot 1-under par. The result was 6-under first round and a one-shot lead over Xavier which had the top two players on the leaderboard.
The second round saw Cervantes, the 2025 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, make his move and keep MU within striking distance after losing the lead to the Musketeers. After bogeying his third hole of the round, the sophomore went 3-under from No. 7 through No. 17. Despite a bogey on 18, Cervantes rebounded with back-to-back birdies at No. 1 and No. 2 to help push the Golden Eagles back into the lead.
MU Results
1. Marquette -11 (282-283—565)
T5. Vincent Cervantes -4 (71-69)
T11. Johan Widal -3 (71-70)
T11. Mischa Candinas -3 (70-71)
T30. Ryan Banas +3 (74-73)
T36. Mason Schmidtke +4 (70-78)