PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – English brothers Leon and Ryan Fricker each shot 3-under 69 on Friday to help Bethune-Cookman top the Division I men's leaderboard in the PGA Minority Collegiate Golf Championship.
Bethune-Cookman had a 5-under 283 total on PGA Golf Club's Wanamaker Course to take a 10-stroke lead over Savannah State. Defending champion Texas-Pan American was third at 294.
"I played really well on the front nine and made the turn feeling confident," said Ryan, the older of the two brothers. "But I had a bit of a roller coaster on the back nine with birdies, double bogeys and bogeys and it all worked out to a 69."
Bethune-Cookman also led the women's standings, shooting 299 on the Ryder Course for a 10-stroke lead over Texas-Pan American. Austria's Patrizia Trevisan and Denmark's Marie Bergelin shot 74 for the defending champion Wildcats.
"Both our men's and women's teams came out strong today," Bethune-Cookman coach Scooter Clark said. "But there is a long way to go and we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. There are too many good teams out here this week, but we are happy with where we are at right now."
In the other men's divisions, Lincoln University had a 14-stroke lead over Texas A&M International in Division II, and Talladega College took a 17-shot lead in NAIA play.
Alabama State's Robert Grant had a 71 to lead the men's independent division, and South Carolina State's Cheryl Chua also shot a 71 to top the women's independent division.
"I was very consistent off the tee and was able to hit a lot of greens today," Chua said. "Even though many of my birdie putts didn't fall, I am really happy with my start."
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