Georgia starting safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, a rising sophomore, will miss the Bulldogs’ 2013 debut at Clemson for a violation of team rules, a Georgia spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

UGA Police were called to the dorm shared by Harvey-Clemons and tight end Ty Flournoy-Smith on May 14 to investigate the smell of marijuana. Both athletes told police they had smoked marijuana and a digital scale was found in the dorm, according to a UGA Police incident report. However, no marijuana was found, no arrests were made and no charges were filed.

Georgia’s athletic department policy calls for a suspension for 10 percent of an athlete’s season for a first-time substance abuse violation. In the case of a football player, that amounts to one game.

Harvey-Clemons (6-foot-5, 212 pounds) played in four games last season and had 14 tackles.

Georgia coach Mark Richt confirmed last week that Flournoy-Smith would transfer. When reached by the Banner-Herald Wednesday night, Flournoy-Smith did not offer a reason for his decision.

The Bulldogs begin play at the Capital City Golf Club’s Crabapple Course in Alpharetta for the NCAA championship today a little more than two weeks removed from their runner-up finish at the NCAA West Regional in Tempe, Ariz. The tournament opens with three rounds of stroke play followed by three days of match play. Only the first three rounds of stroke play are guaranteed.

The Bulldogs feel right at home on a course they play each year, including in September when they finished eighth in an NCAA preview event, and said they hope to feel at home on a course 60 miles from their own.

“It’ll be great, and hopefully we’ll have more fans than anyone else,” Georgia junior Joey Garber said. “We’re playing on grass we’re used to and on a golf course we’re used to. It’ll be a big advantage for us, and we’ll just have to play solid like we did [at regionals] and see what happens.”

The Bulldogs’ finished tied with UCF in second place at 13-under par in Tempe. UCLA rolled to the title at 30 under, but the competitive finish gave Georgia something to build on at the NCAA tournament.

“The season’s been a little bit up and down, but we feel very confident coming off last week playing well and on a golf course we know well,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “We played there at the beginning of the year, and we feel pretty good about it.”

The regional was the team’s best finish since it won the Brickyard Collegiate Championship in Macon in October and showed some competitive mettle as the Bulldogs improved their team score each day even as UCLA pulled away from the field.

“Those guys did a good job of really staying patient, staying in the moment and not giving up on it,” Haack said. “We just seemed to rise to the occasion when the chips were down.”

The Bulldogs carry in a 72.70 individual scoring average and are seeded 12th, and Haack said the performance at the regional tournament showed the team is playing its most consistent golf of the season — an element it will have to carry over if it hopes to find success against the country’s best teams.

“The one thing I’ve always said about this team is that every given week somebody is always playing well,” Haack said. “But what we need is for everybody to do it at the same time. Top to bottom, I know what they’re capable of doing. But if you only have one or two guys doing it, you’re in trouble.”

A dozen teams and six individual golfers, including Bulldogs senior Emilie Burger, begin play today at the UGA Golf Course in the NCAA championships, which run through Friday on the course where Georgia won its first individual golf title in 1981.

Since, the program has churned out a long line of champions at the conference, national and professional levels.

Terri Moody, an Athens product, brought the program its first individual championship at the 1981 AIAW championships played at the UGA Golf Course, and the Bulldogs have since won an NCAA team championship in 2001 and two more individual national titles.

“I felt like the Terri Moody era kind of kick-started us,” said former Georgia golfer Cindy Schreyer, who won the 1984 NCAA individual title at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tarpon Springs, Fla. “Terri was always that player that I looked up to and followed, and I felt like once Terri kicked it off, Georgia golf kind of hit the map and just kept going.”

Schreyer’s title, which like Moody’s came in a playoff, was the second for the Bulldogs. Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, then just Vicki Goetze, won the program’s third individual title as a freshman in 1992 in Tempe, Ariz. She edged Arizona’s Annika Sorenstam, against whom she would later compete at the LPGA level.

By the time Goetze-Ackerman, a Watkinsville native, won her title, the Georgia women’s golf program had established itself as one to watch.

“I felt like we were a really good program,” said Goetze-Ackerman, now the LPGA player president. “I felt like there were some great schools that had a higher status from a team standpoint, and maybe we weren’t recognized as one of the leading programs with places like Tulsa, [Arizona State], San Jose State and Furman because we didn’t have big names, but Georgia has always just played so well as a team. I think that’s a legacy that still continues.”

The Bulldogs finally broke through for their first, and so far only, team title in 2001 in Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., under then-coach Todd McCorkle.

This year’s Georgia squad failed to qualify as a team, but Burger reached the championships as an individual with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Regional at Stanford.

“I know it’ll be really emotional,” Burger said. “I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to finish my career on my home course.”

Burger’s predecessors said they would be pulling for another big week for one of their own as the program hosts its fifth national championship event and first since 1993.

“I felt for the team and really wanted them to be at NCAAs,” Goetze-Ackerman said. “It’s difficult that the team didn’t qualify. Any time you have those regional qualifiers, anything can happen, from someone getting sick or just having a bad day, but I’m sure Emilie will carry the torch for the Georgia Bulldogs.”

IF YOU GO

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Where: UGA Golf Course

When: Tee times begin at noon today; tournament runs through Friday

Tickets: A four-day pass is available for $40 for adults, $25 for senior citizens and college-age and younger students. Daily tickets are available for $12 for adults and $8 for senior citizens and students.

The former Georgia golfer shot a 2-under 69 in the third round to move into sole possession of the lead at 8 under, a shot ahead of playing partner Tim Wilkinson.

“My approach today was to just stay patient and treat it like a one-day shootout because we don’t know what the weather’s going to have for us,” Todd said. “And I knew there wouldn’t be anything bad that could come from leading after today. I don’t know how Tim was playing it, but I was basically playing to win it today.”

A victory today would make Todd the third current or former Georgia golfer to win the tournament since it moved to the UGA Golf Course four years ago. Russell Henley won in 2011 while still an amateur and Georgia golfer and Hudson Swafford won in 2012 as a tour rookie.

“Any win at this point in your career is a good win,” said Todd, a member of Georgia’s 2005 NCAA championship team. “We’re just trying to get to the next level, so a win would definitely move us into that direction. And to do it here in Athens would be really special.”

Martin Piller, a former Texas A&M golfer, won the tournament in 2010.

He was 1 over Saturday and for the tournament.

Todd had an opportunity to build on his lead on the 18th hole, his final of the day, but he hit his first putt too hard and misread the second, leading to his second bogey.

“That was a little disappointing, but overall I made a couple nice birdies there coming in to make that not sting as much,” said Todd, who shot birdie on each of the course’s three par 5s and on the par-4 No. 15. “… I tried to play a good hole and played it perfectly, and I just got a little bad break going down the ridge and obviously hit my first putt too hard.”

Wilkinson had an opportunity to finish the day with a share of the lead but also needed three putts on No. 18 for a bogey. The New Zealand native, who has been a fixture near the top of the leaderboard with rounds of 67, 69 and 70, said he wasn’t focused on catching Todd but rather on maintaining his own composure on a cold, wet and windy course.

“I think I have a good mindset in these conditions and I’m a pretty relaxed type of person,” Wilkinson said. “Obviously, I don’t let things get me down too much. I know I’ve got a good short game, and I know if I miss a few greens I’m probably going to get a lot of up-and-downs. I’m hitting it pretty straight, so I guess I’m not really worried about anything out there. I’m just playing, trying to give myself chances.”

Nick Rousey, who had the best round of the day at 5 under, is at 6 under and alone in third place, Alexandre Rocha (3 under on Saturday) is in fourth at 5 under, and Woody Austin (1 under), Miguel Angel Carballo (even) and second-round co-leader Michael Putnam (3 over) are tied for fifth another shot back.

Rousey briefly sat atop the leaderboard Saturday morning and almost wrapped up what would have been the day’s only bogey-free round before he needed three putts on No. 9, his final hole.

“I made some nice par saves, especially early,” Rousey said. “I made a great par on the very first hole [No. 10] and then I just kept hitting greens and being patient. It just worked out in my favor. I was very fortunate.”

Rousey said he was right at home playing in the rain.

“I don’t mind this weather,” Rousey said. “Being in Pensacola, I’m used to the rain, especially in the summertime, and playing on the mini tours for so long, we always play in stuff like this. So the weather itself, I knew it was going to be tough, I just needed to be kind of patient and let the round happen.”

Instead the two spent much of Thursday’s first round of the Stadion Classic at UGA planning their wedding after Ormsby proposed a night earlier in the Boyd Center locker room.

“We talked about who would probably be in the wedding, where we would want to have it, what month we really wanted to have it,” said Jerman, who was a two-time All-American, the 2002 Southeastern Conference Golfer of the Year and a member of Georgia’s 2001 national championship team. “It was a nice diversion, and I just kept staring at my ring all day and making sure it didn’t get dirty in the sand.”

With Jerman’s ties to Georgia, Ormsby, who qualified as a PGA Tour section member, knew this would be the place to pop the question.

“When I heard about this tournament, I started thinking about [proposing] because of her whole history here,” said Ormsby, who shot an even-par 71 Thursday. “… That’s the reason I wanted to do it here. This is her space. Athens is her town. She loves it here and she’s a huge Georgia fan, so this was the best spot to get it done.”

Jerman was so busy that she never saw it coming. As the head professional at White Oak Golf Club in Newnan, she hosted two golf tournaments this week and only came to the UGA Golf Course on Wednesday because Ormsby, a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection at NC State, told her she was needed for a television interview.

“I was so tired and that’s why I wouldn’t have expected him to say, ‘Hey, on your longest day of the year, let’s get engaged,’” Jerman said. “… The only thing for me, as everybody who knows me knows, I don’t stop talking, but I couldn’t say anything last night. I had absolutely no words.”

Ormsby did at least get a yes. In fact, it was an “absolutely.”

Jerman and Ormsby have known each other for several years — he is an instructor at Braelinn Golf Club in Peachtree City — and although they have been dating just six months, Jerman said she had no reservations about saying yes.

“When it’s right and it fits, you just know it,” Jerman said.

Expect to see the two together on the course even more often as Jerman, a former LPGA player, transitions to a position as an instructor at White Oak in hopes of playing in more tournaments, where Ormbsy will be the one carrying the clubs.

Even on the course, the two just seem to click, Jerman said.

“We play very similar games, so when the thought process gets a little out of whack, I know exactly what he’s thinking, so that kind of nice,” Jerman said. “And he’ll caddie for me. He’s urging me to play more, which is another reason I’m going more into the teacher role.”

The former Georgia golfer was using his old space in the Bulldogs’ locker room again and he found himself playing Tuesday’s practice round for the Stadion Classic at UGA with former teammate Richard Scott.

The two are close friends and have played countless rounds together since they last were teammates, but Wednesday marked the first time they reunited on the course since Mitchell was a freshman and Scott was a senior in 2005-06.

“It felt like freshman year all over again playing with Richard here,” Mitchell said. “It definitely felt like old times.”

The two are hoping the comfortable confines of their old home course will help them settle in for a big week.

Mitchell, who was a three-time All-American, lives in Atlanta and plays on the eGolf Professional Tour. He makes it out to Monday event qualifiers, like the one held this week at Jenning’s Mill Country Club, trying to make the field for bigger events.

He used a sponsor exemption to get into last week’s Web.com Tour event, the South Georgia Classic in Valdosta, and had what he said was one of the best weeks of his professional career, finishing tied for 15th. As a member of the previous event’s top-20 finishers, earned an automatic spot in the Stadion Classic field.

“I knew I needed to have a good round [Sunday] to come to Athens,” Mitchell said. “I love Athens and wanted to come play in this tournament because it’s so special here at the university, and they give you your old locker back for the week. It’s real special to be a Bulldog coming back to this town.”

Sure enough, Mitchell capped his weekend with a 5-under 67.

“I’ve been playing a lot of the Mondays, and I’ve been Monday’ed in a couple times in the past year, I just haven’t always played exactly the way I’ve wanted to play,” Mitchell said. “But I finally put together a couple of good rounds last week and here I am now.”

Scott is coming from the opposite direction, hoping to rebound this week after missing back-to-back cuts on the Web.com Tour. Tuesday’s round was a welcome return to a course he said he remains familiar with.

“It’s still pretty much the same,” said Scott, a two-time All-American who missed the cut at last year’s Stadion Classic. “It’s a little longer than when I used to play here, some of the greens are a little different. But it’s pretty much the same course I know.”

Both golfers said they would be catching up with old friends in Athens, and they’ll be surrounded by them on the course, too. The week’s field features seven former Georgia golfers, two current Georgia golfers and a Georgia graduate in Scott Parel. Many of them met Monday night for dinner with Georgia coaches Chris Haack and Jim Douglas.

“It’s nice to be back, see the guys on the team now and some of the guys I played with, like Adam, Brendon Todd and Kevin Kisner,” Scott said. “It brings back a lot of good memories of this place, the golf course, Athens and Coach Haack. You feel like you’re back at home.”

First-year pro Hudson Swafford capped a course-record round of 9-under 62 on the same hole a year later, holing out from the sand to earn his first professional victory a year after he played the role of caddie at the tournament while still in school.

No tournament has been quite as hospitable to the Bulldogs as the Stadion Classic at UGA, which returns to Athens this week with six former and two current Bulldogs golfers in the field hoping to once again capture lightning in a bottle on their old stomping grounds.

“There is just something special for all the Georgia guys here every year,” Georgia men’s golf coach Chris Haack said. “Just having all those Georgia guys in contention every year and getting that fan support out there, people cheering them on, it just makes it a lot more fun for everybody. I know that over the last two years, watching both those guys win, it gave me goose bumps out there.”

Golf’s minor leagues — the Stadion Classic at UGA is part of the Web.com Tour, previously the Nationwide Tour — have been kind to the Bulldogs over the years with alumni such as Bubba Watson, Chris Kirk and Harris English paving their way to full-fledged PGA Tour status there.

Victories on the tour have given careers the boosts they needed to step up a level. Look no further than Henley for proof. The 24-year-old Macon native was hardly an unknown entering the tournament but has said the victory was a pivotal moment in his career. He had won the 2010 Southeastern Conference individual championship, was named the recipient of the Fred Haskins Award as the most outstanding collegiate golfer and finished 16th as an amateur in that year’s U.S. Open.

But the tournament victory, which came during his finals week, saw him do something only one other golfer had done to that point — win a Nationwide Tour event as an amateur.

Henley then went undefeated in the NCAA championships later that month (Georgia finished runner-up to Augusta State) and played on the U.S. Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams before turning pro.

And aside from a brief dip — Henley missed six cuts, including at the 2012 Stadion Classic, in his first dozen events as a rookie — he finished the season with one of the tour’s most impressive runs. He won twice and had seven top-10 finishes in his final 13 events, finishing third on the money list and earning a PGA Tour card.

Henley then went on to win the Sony Open in Hawaii, his first event as a PGA Tour member, and earned a spot at the Masters, where he missed the cut. He followed up his Masters debut with a fifth-place finish a week later at RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, S.C.

“I really do think that spending a year out here on the Web.com Tour helped Russell make that transition,” Georgia men’s golf coach Chris Haack said. “I think these guys that do this, it just helps them make the transition to the next level. Some will make it with no problem, but the majority, this really helps them get prepared for that.”

Henley has said he is grateful for the victory, even if it sent him on a path to the PGA Tour that came with its own set of hurdles.

“It happened pretty fast,” Henley, who could not be reached for an interview, said at the Masters. “Sometimes I wish I would have eased into it a little more because it kind of blew up in my face a little bit, and I feel like a lot of that, my inconsistency afterwards, had to do with getting used to it. But I’m doing the best I can and trying to learn every day.”

Swafford has yet to break through to the PGA Tour — he finished two spots and less than $3,000 shy of qualifying via the money list last year — but said his victory marked a turning point in his career.

“It’s great that, mentally and physically, you know you can compete with these guys on tour,” Swafford said. “You won. You definitely can compete, and so now you can just go out there and take a chance every week.”

Coming off back-to-back missed cuts, Swafford said he hopes to find some consistency this month as the tour takes him through some familiar territory in Georgia. It appears he has found some of it as he led the South Georgia Classic in Valdosta through two rounds on Friday.

“I’m really looking forward to this Georgia stretch starting in Valdosta,” Swafford said Wednesday. “I started a little slow this year, but I really like this stretch and I feel like I’m starting to play good. I’m definitely looking forward to the next two weeks.”

Swafford said he has only visited Athens a few times since he won here last year but was hopeful he’ll feel right at home once again.

“I’m looking forward to getting back because I love that course and I love that city,” Swafford said. “… It really provided a big stepping stone for my career, getting my first win in my backyard and where I played college golf. It was just kind of surreal, and it was the biggest week of my career. And for it to happen in Athens and at that golf course, I couldn’t have picked a better spot to win.”

“I definitely can’t wait to be back there again.”

She’s called Grandma, and with good reason.

Burger earned the moniker as the lone senior in the Georgia women’s golf team’s lineup, and she has taken seriously the role of mentoring her teammates.

With a first-year head coach in Josh Brewer and an assistant coach position left open after Lindsay Hulwick was hired in Augusta to lead the University of Denver program, Burger help has been pivotal to the team’s success as it heads into the Southeastern Conference championship Friday through Sunday at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.

“Especially after Coach Hulwick moved to Denver, Burger has stepped in and taken up that extra responsibility on the road and on the course,” said Georgia freshman Kailey Walsh. “She’s become a great leader.”

Burger, who has played in every event and leads the team in stroke average at 73.08, has won twice this season — first at the Mason Rudolph Championships in September at Vanderbilt and at the Bryan National Collegiate less than three weeks ago in Brown Summit, N.C. And as a three-year All-American, she has plenty of experience to pass down.

“She’s been everywhere, and so it’s been good for her to work with all the freshman,” Brewer said. “She’s just having a fun time, not worrying about herself and just enjoying seeing these youngsters have that joy in their eyes. It’s made her go back a couple years even.”

While she said she enjoys the new role, Burger also said she knows she’s in the twilight of her own college career. Between the SEC championships and a possible NCAA regional and national championship berths, she has at most 10 rounds left.

“It’s very special, and I’ve told the other girls that this has been my favorite year so far,” Burger said. “And even having the coaching changes, it’s worked out very well. But coming up to the last few tournament, it’s kind of scary because I don’t really want to go out into the big world yet. But we’ve got such a great team, and Josh’s done such a great job with all of us that I’m just happy to be a part of this team this year.”

The team’s youth — the Bulldogs’ next four most-used golfers include freshmen Walsh and Manuela Carbajo Re’ and sophomores Rocio Sanchez Lobato and Collins Bradshaw — also has its upsides.

“It’s nice because you have freshmen and sophomores who don’t realize the history and the struggles of the past couple years for the program,” Brewer said. “All they know is the success we’ve had this year, so we’ll just continue to ride their momentum.”

As the Bulldogs look to win their first SEC title since 2007, they’ll likely need to play inspired golf. No. 19 Georgia will be in a field Brewer said is likely to be tougher than any NCAA regional draw they could receive and more like the one they’ll play host to next month at the NCAA championships as the SEC features five other top-25 teams — No. 2 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 22 Texas A&M.

“I didn’t come from maybe the strongest conference, but you could argue the SEC and Pac-12 are about the same,” said Brewer, who was previously an assistant at Southern Cal. “But I do think the SEC is a bit deeper than the Pac-12, so you’ve got three or four extra teams that have a chance if they get hot. And we’re chasing the defending national champions, Alabama, and trying to knock them off their throne. And we’ve beaten them this year, so we know we can do it. We just need to be consistent throughout the week.”

Burger said she has kept her advice simple this week: Relax.

“One thing I’ve told them is to just treat this like a regular tournament,” Burger said. “For me personally, I’ve tried to put too much pressure on myself instead of treating it like a regular tournament, so that’s what I’ve been telling them. Don’t put pressure on yourself and just out there and enjoy yourself.”

His athletes seem a little more interested than usual in the sport, and he’s always happy to see them prove they have what it takes in the weeks leading up to the Southeastern Conference championship.

“We try making them feel like there’s a lot of heat on them,” Haack said. “That’s the best way to do it, to make it competitive, to make them compete for something every day. They’ve been trying to beat each other’s brains out the last couple weeks, and that’s a good way to prepare for this.”

The Bulldogs head into the SEC championship, which runs Friday through Sunday at Sea Island, as one of five top-25 teams — including No. 2 Alabama, No. 8 Florida, No. 19 Arkansas and No. 22 Auburn — and with all 14 conference teams ranked in the top 50.

The tournament has frequently been an opportunity for the Bulldogs to romp. Since 1982, the team has won 10 SEC titles, more than any other team in the conference in that period. Yet it hasn’t always been a great indication of the success the Bulldogs have deeper in the postseason.

Georgia won national titles in 1999 and 2005 after missing out on the SEC crown. Even in the Bulldogs’ recent NCAA runner-up finishes in 2011 and 2007, they failed to win the SEC.

That won’t stop the team from treating this year’s conference tournament as the most important event of the season.

“This is definitely the biggest thing for us all year other than the national championships,” Georgia junior Keith Mitchell said. “The SEC is probably the strongest golf conference in the nation. A win there would really give us momentum going into the postseason, because if we can beat that caliber or teams, we can contend for a title.”

The Bulldogs opened their fall season with a second-place finish at the Carpet Capital College Classic in Rocky Face and won the Brickyard Collegiate Championship in Macon a month later in October, and they are coming off a third-place finish at the Insperity Augusta State Invitational earlier this month. Much of the time in between the fall successes and this month’s showing in Augusta have been up and down, but sophomore Nicholas Reach said he believes the team is carrying some newfound momentum into this weekend.

“When you’re playing well, you’re playing well. When you’re playing poorly, you’re playing poorly,” Reach said. “We’ve been working on a couple things, especially course management stuff, and I think it’s starting to come together a little bit more than what it was at the beginning of the spring, so we’ve been seeing continuous improvement to where we are now.”

The Bulldogs’ roster has one senior, T.J. Mitchell, and has had success all the way down the lineup to some of its youngest members. Freshman Lee McCoy has been a regular score contributor, sophomore Sam Straka won the Brickyard and there have been several runner-up finishes.

“With having such a young team and not losing anybody, everybody’s been in this situation before except Lee McCoy, but he’s stepped up to the plate every time we’ve needed him to,” Mitchell said. “It’s all about being comfortable under pressure, and now that we’ve all been in this situation, we know we can perform even better now.

“We may not look that experienced on paper, but we are on the course.”

He saw his 1-year-old son, Caleb, clapping for him during the Par-3 Contest. His wife, Angie, was with him during Masters Week after missing his winning the tournament a year ago. And, on No. 16 during a practice round, he made the third hole-in-one of his career.

All that was missing was the vision of another green jacket for Watson, who sounded accepting of the notion that his best chance at repeating slipped by Saturday with a round of 2-under 70 that started memorably and ended forgettably with the former University of Georgia golfer at 2-over par through 54 holes and nine shots behind co-leaders Brandt Snedeker and Angel Cabrera..

“That’s why I said tomorrow I’m just going to play 18 holes and the golf score’s going to get in the way,” Watson said. “But I’m just going to walk 18 holes knowing that at one time I was defending champ, it’s my last day as defending champ, and I can’t wait to get back out there and compete the following years. As long as I don’t do anything wrong, I’m in it for life.”

Watson birdied the first three holes, parred the rest on the front and reached even par for the tournament with a birdie on No. 10.

Things began to fall apart at Amen Corner, where his second shot on No. 11 rolled into the water, leading to a double bogey, and a bogey on No. 13 pushed him back to 1-under for the day. He took steps forward with birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 but wrapped up his round with another bogey on No. 18, his second on the hole in as many days.

“I didn’t make up any ground, really,” said Watson, who was in the first group to tee off and finished in three hours, 20 minutes. “And I had a chance to do it. I was at 4 under through 10, then just had a couple of bad swings.”

The rocky stretch through the back nine quickly overshadowed Watson’s third-round successes, including several par saves and his first day of the tournament without a 3-putt.

“I had some great pars right there in the middle of the round, then one bad swing got the momentum going the other way,” Watson said.

“Just like in any sport, when you get the momentum going the other way, it seems like everything’s against you.”

The score puts the defending Masters champion and former Georgia golfer at 2 over through 54 holes and eight shots behind leader Jason Day, who tees off at 2:45 p.m. in a group with Fred Couples, who along with Marc Leishman, sits a shot behind the lead.

Watson birdied the first three holes, shot par the rest of the way through the turn and birdied No. 10 to reach even par for the tournament.

Then some hiccups in Amen Corner cost him as he hit his ball into the water on No. 11 en route to a double bogey and said a poor club choice led him to a bogey on No. 13. He shot birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 and wrapped up his round with a bogey on No. 18, his second on that hole in as many days.

Fellow former Georgia golfer and PGA Tour rookie Russell Henley shot a 9-over 81 on Friday to finish 9 over and miss the cut in his first Masters.

For more updates throughout the day, check back here and at AugustaChronicle.com.

Watson spent much of the second round flirting with the projected cut but birdied four holes on the back nine to keep alive his hopes of winning another green jacket, finishing the day with a 1-over 73 and a 36-hole 4-over 148.

It was a wild, waffling round that featured seven birdies, six bogeys and a double.

“That’s what we call Bubba golf,” said Watson, who needed leader Jason Day to miss a birdie opportunity on No. 18 to keep from becoming the first reigning Masters champion to miss the cut since Mike Weir failed to reach the weekend in 2005.

Watson sits 10 strokes back from Day, whose 4-under 68 put him atop the field at 6 under.

Henley also suffered through a bogey-riddled round with nine of them and a double on the par-4 No. 5 to finish the day with a 9-over 81 and miss the cut.

Unlike Watson, however, Henley had too few birdies (Nos. 10 and 16) to make up for bogeys at Nos. 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14 and 16 and a double at No. 5.

Henley, who turned 24 on Friday, said he was disappointed but believed he would have other opportunities in the tournament.

“I’m going to be back,” Henley said. “I’m not in it for next year, but I believe very firmly that I’ll be back here competing for the championship, for sure. That’s something I dream about and think about every day, and I believe it’s going to happen.”

Even before the round started, Henley said he knew something was wrong with his swing, and he went on to hit seven of 14 fairways and reached four of 18 greens in regulation with an average drive of 255.5 yards — 54 yards shorter than his first-round average.

“I didn’t feel very comfortable with the driver,” Henley said. “Obviously, it cost me a bunch of shots today. You have to do everything great out there, but you definitely have to drive well.

“My swing didn’t feel very good on the range to start the day, and I might have cured it a little bit, but I definitely didn’t expect to play as bad as I did.”

The week wasn’t wasted, though. Henley said he enjoyed the experience and found some things to work on heading into next week’s RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, S.C.

“It’s incredible,” Henley said. “I got to play two (practice) rounds of golf with Tom Watson and in the par-3 tournament. Just spending time with him is something I’ll never forget. It was definitely a great learning experience for me, and I’m going to be a lot better because of this week for sure.”

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Leishman one-shot back after Masters second round, tied for second
Wind, rain play havoc with Sergio Garcio
Masters notebook: Weaver sticking around Augusta National despite missing cut
Dustin Johnson finally brings his stellar game to the Masters
Loran Smith: Dan Jenkins can give the rundown on Ben Hogan

The former University of Georgia golfer struggled driving the ball and shot a 9-over 81 in Friday’s second round for a 36-hole 9-over 153.

Fred Couples leads the group finished with the second round at 5 under, and other golfers still on the course Friday afternoon are capable of going lower, all but guaranteeing Henley will miss the cut. Only the top 50, including ties, and those within 10 strokes of the leader will play on the weekend.

Henley, who turned 24 on Friday, said he was disappointed with a round that featured nine bogeys and a double on No. 5 but believed he would have other opportunities in the tournament.

“I’m going to be back,” Henley said. “I’m not in it for next year, but I believe very firmly that I’ll be back here competing for the championship, for sure. That’s something I dream about and think about every day, and I believe it’s going to happen.”

Even before the round started, Henley said he knew something was wrong with his swing, and he went on to hit seven of 14 fairways and reach four of 18 greens in regulation with an average drive of 255.5 yards — 54 yards shorter than his first-round average.

“I didn’t feel very comfortable with the driver,” Henley said. “Obviously, it cost me a bunch of shots today. You have to do everything great out there, but you definitely have to drive well.

“My swing didn’t feel very good on the range to start the day, and I might have cured it a little bit, but I definitely didn’t expect to play as bad as I did.”

By the time he fell to 4 over with a double bogey on the par-4 No. 5, Henley said he knew something was wrong but couldn’t put his finger on exactly what he needed to correct.

“If I would have figured it out, I wouldn’t have shot 81,” he said.

Henley also bogeyed Nos. 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14 and 16. He birdied Nos. 10 and 16.

The week wasn’t wasted, though. Henley said he enjoyed the experience and found some things to work on heading into next week’s RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, S.C.

“It’s incredible,” Henley said. “I got to play two rounds of golf with Tom Watson and in the par-3 tournament. Just spending time with him is something I’ll never forget. It was definitely a great learning experience for me, and I’m going to be a lot better because of this week for sure.”

The second round of the Masters Tournament got underway Friday morning with Henley (E 72, tied-33) set to tee off at 11:07 a.m. in a group with 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize and Brian Gay (if that group — a Bulldog, a Yellow Jacket and a Gator — made it a full 18 holes yesterday without fighting, it should give hope for world peace) and Watson (3-over 75, tied-64) set to go off at 1:30 p.m. with Ian Poulter and amateur Steven Fox.

It started raining at about 10:30 a.m. — and there hasn’t been a report of lightning just yet — so tee times may vary.

Henley, who turns 24 on Friday, can count yesterday’s round, which featured three bogeys and three birdies, as an early birthday present. It landed him smack in the middle of the pack hunting to stay alive through the weekend, which isn’t anything to scoff at for a PGA Tour rookie making his Masters debut.

Henley had some struggles early yesterday — he bogeyed the first two holes and missed a roughly 6-foot eagle-putt opportunity on the par-5 No. 8 after reaching the green in two — but overcame it with some excellent recovery work and a long putt on No. 18 to wrap up his round.

If he continues to play that way today, it’ll be hard to top the gift he’ll be giving himself.

“I terms of my game, I hit a lot of great shots and didn’t come away with a birdie (on some of them) today,” Henley said Thursday after his round. “And I’m hitting the ball great, so I feel great about my game, and I feel like that’s probably what I should have shot today — a 72 — so I did get lucky on a few, but I felt pretty good about it.”

Watson has had a slightly different start to the week. He fought with himself on the greens, needing to three-putt three times, and complained that the greens were softer than usual and led him to leave some putts short. He’s not whining, though, and plenty of golfers, including Phil Mickelson, echoed his sentiments.

Speaking of Mickelson, Bubba’s 3-over 75 was the highest opening-round score for a defending champion since Lefty shot a 76 in 2007. For the record, Mickelson fought back and finished tied for 24th that year, though it was his worst performance in the tournament since he missed the cut a decade earlier.

Bubba said he wasn’t discouraged.

“I mean, it’s golf,” said Watson, whose lone birdie came on the par-5 second hole. “There’s going to be bad days and good days.”

Mike Weir, who won in 2004, is the most recent champion to miss the cut the following year.

The top 60 players and those within 10 shots of the leader after 36 holes will make the cut this year. Before the start of today’s round, Marc Leishman and Sergio Garcia shared the lead with 6-under 66s.

For more updates throughout the day, check back at OnlineAthens.com and AugustaChronicle.com, which is our sister publication and second-to-none when it comes to covering this event.

They just may not be the ones you’d expect.

It was PGA Tour rookie Russell Henley who bounced back from a pair of early bogeys to finish with an even-par 72 and in a tie for 33rd in his Masters debut while defending champion Bubba Watson struggled with some putts and finished with a 3-over 75 and tied for 64th.

Watson finished 4 over on Augusta National’s par 4s and a spoiled eagle attempt on the par-5 No. 15 marked one of four times he needed three putts on a hole.

“You know, it’s one of those things. Yesterday I putted really well. I putted well all the practice rounds,” Watson said. “And today — to me, the speed was a little lower, and I’m so used to some of these putts being so difficult because of the speed, and today I left them all short.”

Watson said he was not disappointed with his round, nor did he feel he played himself out of contention by finishing nine strokes behind co-leaders Marc Leishman and Sergio Garcia, who shot 6-under 66s.

“I mean, it’s golf,” said Watson, whose lone birdie came on the par-5 second hole. “There’s going to be bad days and good days. I hit the ball really well. I can’t complain about my ball striking.”

Henley’s day began as he said he imagined it would with an emotional tee time in the second group to go off Thursday.

“I walked onto the tee and just got chills with everyone clapping, and it just kind of hit me all the sudden that I’m here,” Henley said. “And it brought back memories of standing outside the ropes and looking in and guys getting announced. And it was like, ‘Whoa, I’m on the inside now and I’ve made it.’ It felt good. I had to fight off a few tears, but I did and I was ready to go.”

What happened next didn’t play out much like he dreamed, though. Henley hit his first tee shot into the right-side fairway bunker and bogeyed the first two holes.

But he birdied Nos. 8, 9 and 15 and with the help of some strong recovery shots finished the first round with an even-par 72.

“I terms of my game, I hit a lot of great shots and didn’t come away with a birdie (on some of them) today,” Henley said. “And I’m hitting the ball great, so I feel great about my game, and I feel like that’s probably what I should have shot today — a 72 — so I did get lucky on a few, but I felt pretty good about it.”

No shot made him feel better than the one that wrapped up his round. After hitting his tee shot on No. 18 into the trees lining the right side of the fairway, he was able to recover and set up a long putt to save par.

“I hit it into the trees and just kept telling myself over and over, ‘I really want to make par, I want to make par,’” said Henley, who estimated the putt to be 40 or 50 feet. “I just kept trying to think positive, and right before I walked up to my putt, I said, ‘I want to make this putt,’ and just tried to reinforce some positive thoughts.

“And when I do that, it seems more things happen good than not.”

It was the second time Henley had to overcome some adversity along the tree line. His tee shot on No. 15 landed along the left edge of the fairway with a patch of trees in front of him, and his next shot bounced off of one and caromed into the middle of the fairway without adding much distance. Henley’s next shot landed a few yards past the pin, and he sank the birdie putt.

“It was a lucky break,” Henley said of his performance on the hole. “I hit an awful punchout and got lucky. I’m going to take all the breaks I can get.”

Henley chalked up some of his early mistakes to nerves, but a par on No. 3 soothed him, and so did chatting with playing partner and 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize.

Neither Henley nor Mize would let on what they talked about, but it seemed to help Henley hone his game as the round went on.

“He was really great,” Henley said. “He was very positive and was rooting me on, and it was a blast playing with him.”

Added Mize: “We talked about different things. But I really enjoyed playing with him. He’s going to have a great career out here. He’s a good player and a good young man.”

“I walked onto the tee and just got chills with everyone clapping, and it just kind of hit me all the sudden that I’m here,” Henley said. “And it brought back memories of standing outside the ropes and looking in and guys getting announced. And it was like, ‘Whoa, I’m on the inside now and I’ve made it.’ It felt good. I had to fight off a few tears, but I did and I was ready to go.”

What happened next didn’t play out much like he dreamed, though. Henley hit his first tee shot into the right-side fairway bunker and bogeyed the first two holes.

But the former University of Georgia golfer birdied Nos. 8, 9 and 15 with the help of some strong recovery shots and finished the first round with an even-par 72.

“I terms of my game, I hit a lot of great shots and didn’t come away with a birdie [on some of them] today,” Henley said. And I’m hitting the ball great, so I feel great about my game, and I feel like that’s probably what I should have shot today — a 72 — so I did get lucky on a few, but I felt pretty good about it.”

No shot made him feel better than the one that wrapped up his round. After hitting his tee shot on No. 18 into the trees lining the right side of the fairway, he was able to recover to set up a long putt to save par.

“I hit it into the trees and just kept telling myself over and over, ‘I really want to make par, I want to make par,’’ Henley said. “I just kept trying to think positive, and right before I walked up to my putt, I said, ‘I want to make this putt,’ and just tried to reinforce some positive thoughts.

“And when I do that, it seems more things happen good than not.”

It was the second time Henley had to overcome some adversity along the tree line. His tee shot on No. 15 landed along the left edge of the fairway with a patch of trees in front of it, and his next shot bounced off of one and caromed into the middle of the fairway without adding much distance. Henley’s next shot landed a few yards past the pin, and he sank the birdie putt.

“It was a lucky break,” Henley said of his performance on the hole. “I hit an awful punchout and got lucky. I’m going to take all the breaks I can get.”

Henley chalked up some of his early mistakes to nerves, but a par on No. 3 soothed him, and so did chatting with playing partner and 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize.

Neither Henley nor Mize would let on what they talked about, but it seemed to help Henley hone in his game.

“He was really great,” Henley said. “He was very positive and was rooting me on, and it was a blast playing with him.”

Added Mize: “We talked about different things. But I really enjoyed playing with him. He’s going to have a great career out here. He’s a good player and a good young man.”

Jack Nicklaus, playing in the group ahead of him, winked at him when they passed near the final green.

And Gary Player stopped him to say he it was great to see the former University of Georgia golfer and PGA Tour rookie playing so well.

“Yeah, it kind of seems fake out here,” Henley said after shooting a 2-under 25 and finishing in a seven-way tie for eighth place while playing in a group with former Masters champion Tom Watson and amateur Nathan Smith. “It’s cool, but it feels fake.”

Henley said he is hoping experiences like that start to wear off by this morning in time for his Masters Tournament debut, when he’ll start at 8:11 a.m. in a group with Brian Gay and Larry Mize.

Gay played in the Masters in 2010 and Mize, the 1987 champion, has  played in the tournament 29 times, making Henley the lone first-timer.

“I’m trying to get it all out of my system right now,” Henley said. “I’m ready to play. … I feel like I’m playing well and I’m ready to play well and ready to get out there. The whole practice rounds and stuff have been fun, but I’m ready to compete.”

In preparation for getting down to business this morning, Henley spent Wednesday afternoon in a lighter mood, joking around with older brother Adam, who caddied for him during the par-3 contest and for much of his Web.com Tour career.

“It’s cool. He’s fun,” Russell said of his brother. “He’s loose and he’s just always fun to do anything with him.”

Adam was a bit caught up in the experience, too. He said his nerves led him to forget to bring a towel with him to the first green and said he spit-shined the ball to get it clean.

“I’ve heard my brother say a couple times that just couldn’t believe some of what was happening was real, and I kind of even had that feeling today,” Adam said. “I couldn’t believe it was me out there in the white jumpsuit and that I was standing there talking to Tom Watson.”

Russell’s finish in the contest was two strokes shy of qualifying for the playoff, but Adam said the results, including a series of birdies on Nos. 3, 4 and 5, were encouraging.

“I saw him hitting some sweet zingers,” said Adam, who shared caddie duties with Sanders Walker, the 10-year-old son of a friend. “And his swing is a lot different now than when I last caddied for him. I definitely like what I’m seeing.”

Russell said he has been working out the jitters since Monday, and Adam said he believed Wednesday shook out the last of them.

“I actually think today was the perfect kind of day to have right before your first Masters round,” Adam said. “You play the back nine then cut it up a little bit in the par-3 contest. I think that’s the perfect day.”

There were hardly a shortage of them making plays, from junior-college transfer receiver Jonathan Rumph’s two touchdown catches to redshirt freshman kickers Patrick Beless and Thomas Pritchard making late-game field goals.

But if you’re yearning for a few familiar faces, these videos should be what you’re looking for with interviews with Chris Conley, Rhett McGowan, Josh Harvey-Clemons, Mike Bobo and Todd Grantham.

Kevin Kisner found that out quickly, joining the professional ranks with a qualifying tournament the Monday after he graduated in 2006.

“All of the sudden, you’re your own travel agent and you have to learn what days you want to practice, what days you want to get there, where you want to eat and how to prepare your body to play well,” said Kisner, a former Georgia golfer sitting in the No. 3 spot in the Web.com Tour’s money list. “It’s a whole lot different.”

Kisner, who spent the last two seasons on the PGA Tour, was at the UGA Golf Course on Wednesday, squeezing in a practice round for the upcoming Web.com Tour Stadion Classic at UGA as tournament organizers hosted members of the media. This year’s tournament will be held April 29-May 5.

Kisner can be counted among the many professional golfers who cut their teeth on the PGA’s developmental circuit, previously known as the Nationwide Tour. He played first on other mini tours, including the NGA Hooters and Tarheel Tour, from 2007-09 and won three times. After spending 2010 and 2011 on the Nationwide Tour — winning once in 2010 — he placed 11th on the money list and joined the fraternity of tour graduates that includes 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson, Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson, among a host of others.

The experience has been invaluable, said Kisner, who failed to hold on to his PGA Tour card but put himself in position to return at the season’s end by winning the Web.com Tour’s Chile Classic last month. Under new rules, the Web.com Tour’s top 25 money-earners will be guaranteed a PGA Tour card for the following system but will be seeded based on their performance in a season-ending series of tournament to include the Web.com Tour’s top 75 money-earners and the players ranked Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings.

“I think it’s been just a great breeding ground for the PGA Tour as far as building experience in tournament competition and tournament setups, where you learn and understand what it’s going to be like to play at the next level,” Kisner said “Obviously, it’s a vast difference as far as levels once you get there. You’re playing for a whole lot more money with a whole lot more people watching and on a whole lot more demanding golf courses. But at least you learn the schedule and you learn about what you have to do to play at that level.”

The Web.com Tour has been good to other former Georgia golfers, too. Russell Henley won the 2011 Stadion Classic while still a Georgia student-athlete and won twice last year to earn his PGA Tour card. Chris Kirk won twice in 2010 and Erik Compton won once in 2010, propelling them both the PGA Tour. Hudson Swafford, last year’s Stadion champion, and Justin Bolli each won an event last season, with Bolli’s victory — his fourth overall on the tour — bumping him back up to the next level.

For many of them, the time outside the PGA Tour made them better prepared when they reached that level, Georgia coach Chris Haack said.

Haack pointed to Henley, who while at Georgia was named the Southeastern Conference player of the year and won the 2010 Fred Haskins Award presented to the nation’s top college golfer. But when Henley turned pro after the 2011 Walker Cup, he hit some speed bumps, missing the cut seven times in his first 16 tries before cracking the top 10 midseason in 2012.

Henley then finished in the top 10 three times in the next five weeks and won two of the season’s final four tournaments, both in playoffs. He then followed it up with a victory at the Sony Open, his first PGA Tour event, to earn a spot in next week’s Masters Tournament.

“I really do think that spending a year out here on the Web.com Tour helped Russell make that transition,” Haack said. “I think these guys that do this, it just helps them make the transition to the next level. Some will make it with no problem, but the majority, this really helps them get prepared for that and it’s great for those guys.”

That’s just fine with Kevin Kisner, a member of Georgia’s 2005 NCAA championship team who will play in this year’s tournament April 29-May 5 at the UGA Golf Course, where Russell Henley won in 2011 and Hudson Swafford won a year ago.

“It’s almost going to be like a vacation week for me,” Kisner said Wednesday during a media event at the course. “It’s not as much of a grind, I’ll come in town and stay at Coach (Chris) Haack’s house, hang out with some friends and family and all of the people who were so good to me when I was here who I only get to see a few times during football season.

“And if I have a chance to win on Sunday, it’ll really help to have that crowd behind me. … I mean, how much more pumped up can you be having a chance to win and knowing everybody’s pulling for you?”

He’s been on the other side of that, too. Kisner played (and won) in the Web.com Tour’s Chile Classic last month and was paired for the final round with a local fan favorite and Santiago native, Benjamin Alvarado.

“It was almost the opposite there,” Kisner said. “I was playing with a Chilean guy the last day and everybody was cheering for him.”

Kisner said he had no hard feelings.

“Obviously, most golf crowds are great to you,” he said. “They understand good shots are good shots no matter who they’re following, and they’ll cheer for you.

“But you always have your favorites, and if I go play with Phil Mickelson on a Sunday, they’re going to be applauding a lot more for him than for me.”

Bulldogs battling for Stadion exemptions

Hosting the Stadion Classic comes with some perks for the Georgia men’s golf program, but none greater than getting two golfers in the field.

Each year, the two Georgia golfers with the lowest stroke averages are given a sponsor’s exemption and can participate as an amateur.

Last year, Nick Reach and Brian Carter represented Georgia, though neither made the cut.

This year, Haack said T.J. Mitchell leads the competition with a close battle for the next spot.

“Right now I think it stands with T.J. Mitchell leading and I believe Nick Reach is second, but Keith Mitchell is hot on his trail,” Haack said.

“It’s getting kind of competitive right now down the stretch.”

The Bulldogs have two more tournaments to lower their average with a trip to an Augusta State tournament and the Southeastern Conference championships on deck before the Stadion Classic.

The SEC tournament, to be played April 19-21 at Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, presents a chance for an underdog to make a move to break the system of giving the two spots to the golfers with the lowest stroke averages.

“The only way it can be superseded is if somebody wins the individual championship at the SEC championships, which happens to be a couple weeks beforehand,” Haack said. “We’ve never had that happen, but certainly we’ve had some good representation from the guys who have had those low stroke averages over the years.”

That includes Henley, who won while still a Georgia student and with a sponsor’s exemption in 2011.

Other exemptions still up in the air

Another pair of golfers will receive the tournament’s other two exemptions, but they have yet to be named.

And this year, organizers are under less pressure to decide as the Web.com Tour has reshuffled its seedings once already this season, making the potential field more clear than usual nearly a month before the tournament, said tournament director and course manager Dave Cousart.

“It has kind of helped us a little bit because they’ve already done one reshuffle with how the earnings are, and we kind of have an idea where we’re going, whereas in previous years the reshuffle is Sunday night at midnight the day before we start and we have until 10 a.m. Monday morning to tell them who our exemptions are,” Cousart said. “We don’t have that problem this year. We have more time, so we’re just going to wait it out a couple more weeks, see who plays well and at some point in two weeks or so we’ll probably make those announcements.”

Cousart did not reveal who is being considered but said some prominent names are among those seeking exemptions in what he described as a very competitive lineup.

“There is a plethora of young players like Kisner and younger, and the fields are getting stronger and stronger,” Cousart said. “And by the requests I’ve had for an exemption, you’d really be surprised who is having to ask.”

Web.com offers
free business clinic

Web.com is offering a free clinic for local small businesses on May 3 at the Foundry Inn & Spa on Dougherty Street in Athens.

The event will begin with breakfast at 8 a.m. followed by forums from 8:30-10:30 a.m.

Topics will include how to create ecommerce websites, how to optimize search-engine rankings and marketing through social media and will be staffed by employees of Web.com, which specializes in Internet services and marketing.

For more information or to reserve tickets, visit businessforum.web.com.

The Gym Dogs’ Christan Tanella scored a career-best 9.925 on bars and fellow senior Shayla Worley tied her career-best 9.95 on floor exercise as No. 8 Georgia (7-6-1) posted a season-high score in a 197.65-196.975 victory over No. 7 Utah (9-2-1) on Saturday.

“You’re never going to ask for (a record), you can’t be like, ‘Please give me the best meet of my life,’” Tanella said. “But shoot, it’s just literally the icing on the cake. You go and you have a job to do, you want to get a high score, up your RQS, get a win. But having the best night of your life is something that just kind of comes as a result of the ones you’re going for.”

Georgia opened with a 49.525 on vault, marking the team’s second-best score of the season behind a 49.55 scored in a loss to Florida on Feb. 16.

Lindsey Cheek and Brittany Rogers posted a pair of 9.95s to lead the Gym Dogs’ scoring, and Georgia led 49.525-49.225 as Utah opened on the bars.

Tanella’s 9.925 sparked Georgia to a 49.375 on bars, and Utah scored a 49.35 on vault behind a 9.8 from Taylor Allex and a 9.95 from Tory Wilson, putting Georgia ahead 98.9-98.575 after two events.

That lead — and the momentum the Gym Dogs were competing with — felt familiar to Cheek, who recalled Georgia’s fast start and then the sputters that followed in that 197.3-196.175 loss to Florida.

“After vault and bars, I looked up and it looked a heck of a lot like the Florida meet, and I was like, ‘OK, this can go either way,’” Davis said. “The beam and floor just completely rocked it. We had that one bobble on beam, and nobody panicked and we just completely stayed focused and went all the way through.”

Worley, who contributed on the beam as one of four Gym Dogs to score 9.875, joined Kaylan Earls, Rogers and Cheek to help Georgia score a 49.225 in the event.

Through the third event, Georgia led 148.125-147.8 as the Utes scored a 49.225 on the floor exercise led by Becky Tutka’s 9.9.

Worley tied her career mark with a 9.95 on floor exercise, and Georgia had 9.9s from Sarah Persinger, Rogers and Brandie Jay and a pair of 9.875s from Earls and Tanella for a 49.525.

Rogers competed in the floor for the fourth time this season and scored a 9.9 to break her previous season-high 9.675 scored against LSU and Kentucky. It boosted her to an all-around title with a 39.575 as she edged out Utah’s Georgia Dabritz (39.35) and Tory Wilson (39.225). Rogers’ other scores included a 9.95 on vault, 9.85 on bars and 9.875 on beam.

“We knew from the very beginning we wanted to ease her in (to more events),” Georgia coach Danna Durante said. “Beam came along and we sort of have been dragging our feet with floor just a little bit because we wanted her to be adjusted, and I think she finally felt that. … I think it was a good turning point for her.”

The Gym Dogs travel to NC State next Saturday for the regular-season finale and head to the Southeastern Conference Championships on March 23 in North Little Rock, Ark.

If you follow the world of golf online, it’s probably been difficult to avoid the first video, even if only because it became an even bigger hit on YouTube after Watson won the Masters.

It seems they’ve been working on their dance moves and production techniques.



If you missed the original Golf Boys video, it’s below.

The Bulldogs’ 6-foot-8 forward scored career-high 21 points off the bench as Georgia overcame a rocky second half to defeat Florida A&M 82-73 and win its third straight game on Saturday at Stegeman Coliseum.

“The truth is, I haven’t been playing as well as I can,” said Djurisic, who entered the contest averaging 6.5 points per game this season. “I was struggling the whole first part of the season, and (coach Mark Fox) was very patient with me and just told me to prepare and wait, and it kind of came back to me a little bit.”

The victory was also a confidence booster for the team, Djurisic said. The Bulldogs’ three in a row marks their best streak since they won five consecutive games leading into Southeastern Conference play this time last year. Georgia (5-7) hosts George Washington at 7 p.m. Friday before launching into SEC play Jan. 9 at Florida.

“We’re getting more mature,” Djurisic said. “We’re gaining confidence as a team. We’re playing better. We’re getting more experience from all the games, and we’re learning. … I would just like to keep this streak going into SEC and bring this confidence a little bit into conference play.”

The Bulldogs started like a team that knew how to win, keeping the Rattlers to the permitter and jumping out to an 8-0 lead.

But Florida A&M made the most of its opportunities, and while it never led, used six 3-pointers to score its first 18 points and came as close as two points to catching the Bulldogs at 22-20.

Georgia pulled away with a 15-0 run and took a 42-24 lead, its largest of the game, on one of Djurisic’s two 3-pointers with 4:07 remaining in the first half. In all, five Bulldogs scored during the spurt.

“Our defense was good, so we got some things in transition, and we made some 3-point shots,” Fox said of the first-half breakout. “I thought we spaced the floor really well. One thing we’re not … is selfish. We don’t have any selfishness on the team as far as no passing the other guys the ball and not taking shots we shouldn’t take.”

The run also saw Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who began the day as the Bulldogs’ and SEC’s leading scorer with 18.1 points per game, make his first field goal nearly 15 minutes into the game. He finished with 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

“He’s not going to be there every night, and tonight he wasn’t,” Fox said. “Fortunately, (Djurisic) came back and made some baskets, and we had a lot of guys finish some plays, especially there in the first half. It’s good to get some more guys scoring the ball.”

Caldwell-Pope said it was encouraging to see others step up when he was having a slow night.

“Seeing my teammates score the ball is great. We do need that a lot,” Caldwell-Pope said. “We need people to step up when I’m not making baskets or, even when I’m making baskets, we need people to score the ball.”

What momentum Georgia had built in the first half quickly evaporated after the break. Florida A&M scored 10 of the first 14 points in the second half to trim Georgia’s lead to 53-46 before the Bulldogs snapped back.

The Rattlers came as close as six points in the second half at 53-47 and twice made it a seven-point game, including once inside the final minute of play.

“We played pretty well offensively in the first half and we were just so immature that we obviously did not play well with the lead,” Fox said. “We’re just so immature in so many ways as competitors, as people, and that has to change
for us to become a good basketball team. I was disappointed in how we finished the game.”

The Bulldogs were sharp on free throws late in the game, though, scoring their final six points from the line and going 14 of 18 in the second half to finish the game 22 of 30.

“We’re getting better as a team,” Fox said. “You didn’t see it in the second half today. You probably saw some of it in the first half. But we’re getting better despite ourselves. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ve made some progress.”

BOX SCORE — GEORGIA 82, FLORIDA A&M 73

FLORIDA A&M (4-8)

Adams 5-18 0-0 12, Lewis 2-9 0-0 4, Teal 3-6 4-7 10, Bradshaw 3-9 1-2 9, Davis 1-1 0-4 2, Fabiyi 0-0 0-0 0, Bullard 1-2 4-6 7, Abdul-Aleem 7-14 0-0 16, Kellum 4-9 1-2 9, Badejo 1-2 0-0 2, Odi 0-3 2-4 2. Totals 27-73 12-25 73.

GEORGIA (5-7)

Caldwell-Pope 4-10 3-4 11, Mann 2-8 4-5 9, D. Williams 3-5 0-0 6, Morris 3-5 3-6 10, Florveus 2-3 0-1 4, Dixon 1-2 2-2 4, V. Williams 1-3 1-2 4, Gaines 0-2 2-2 2, Brantley 3-3 0-0 9, Cannon 1-3 0-0 2, Djurisic 6-14 7-8 21. Totals 26-58 22-30 82.

Halftime—Georgia 49-36. 3-Point Goals—Florida A&M 7-26 (Bradshaw 2-5, Abdul-Aleem 2-6, Adams 2-9, Bullard 1-1, Lewis 0-5), Georgia 8-16 (Brantley 3-3, Djurisic 2-3, Morris 1-1, V. Williams 1-2, Mann 1-3, Gaines 0-1, Caldwell-Pope 0-3). Fouled Out—Florveus. Rebounds—Florida A&M 45 (Abdul-Aleem 11), Georgia 41 (Caldwell-Pope 9). Assists—Florida A&M 11 (Bullard 4), Georgia 17 (V. Williams 4). Total Fouls—Florida A&M 24, Georgia 18. A—6,149.