PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. ? Mark Blakefield played one of the best rounds of golf in his career as a Wildcat, Monday afternoon at the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships and currently sits tied for the tournament lead with a 2-under-par 142 two round total. Kentucky is tied for seventh as a team and is on pace to pickup its sixth top 10 finish of the school year.

Blakefield fired a career-low 67 in the second round on Monday after a first round 75 on Sunday. The Maysville, Ky., product began the day four strokes behind three golfers who shared a three-way title for the lead. Blakefield rallied with a 34 on the front nine and a 33 after the turn to pull to a tie with David Skinns (Tennessee) and Jake Thompson (South Carolina). His strong day included an eagle on a par-4 just before the turn.

As a team, the Wildcats showed vast improvement from its day one 317 team score, which was due in part to inclement weather, by firing a 288 in the second round. Kentucky moved up four places and is tied with Southeastern Conference foe LSU for seventh place with a 605 two round total.

No. 22-ranked South Carolina has been solid all tournament and currently sits comfortably in first place of the 18 team tournament with a team 577 total. The Gamecocks are 13 strokes ahead of second-place No. 3-ranked Clemson (590) and 20 strokes ahead of third-place No. 18-ranked Oklahoma State (597).

John Holmes, who entered the day tied for 11th overall, was unable to find his stroke as he shot a second round three-over-par 75. He currently stands tied for 19th with a two round 149. Sophomore Matt Kohn (158) and juniors Matt Wells (159) and Brandon Waldrop (161) are tied for 62nd, 64th and 70th, respectively.

Kentucky tees off the third and final day of the tournament at 8 a.m. Fans can keep track of the Wildcats with live scoring at www.golfstatresults.com.

 Kentucky Scores T1 Mark Blakefield ? 142 T19 John Holmes ? 149 T62 Matt Kohn ? 158 T64 Matt Wells ? 159 T70 Brandon Waldrop ? 161