BROOKSVILLE, Fla. -- Marcus Wochner has a three-shot lead and Wichita State has new life heading into Sunday's final round at the American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship.
 
Wochner (66-70—136, -8) carded six birdies and four bogeys to move to 8-under-par, while a number of other contenders faltered. USF's Albin Bergstrom – ranked 58^th nationally – and teammate Kyle Flexsenhar are the next-closest contenders at 5-under.
 
Helped by early morning conditions an increased familiarity with the course at Southern Hills Plantation Club, Shocker golfers undid the damage from a bad Friday (+9) with a very good Saturday (-9) to reach even-par for the weekend. In the process, they jumped from last-place to third in the team standings.
 
WSU's 279 topped SMU (286) for Saturday's best round.
 
Brock Polhill (80-69—149, +5) likewise pivoted from worst-to-first by shaving 11 strokes off of his Friday total. The sophomore began the day in last-place in a field of 40 individuals but tied for low scoring honors Saturday with a 3-under, 69 to move into a tie for 30^th.
 
Frank Thomas (76-69—145, +1) knocked off seven strokes to match him and leaped from 34^th to 17^th on the leaderboard.
 
Zac Owens (76-71—147, +3) and Dawson Lewis (79-73—152, +8) lopped off five and six strokes respectively. Owens gained 13 spots and is tied for 21^st.
 
The Shockers exited the course just before 1 p.m ET and relaxed in the clubhouse while the later groups battled increasingly heavy winds.
 
No team struggled more than first-place South Florida, which scored a tournament-record 270 on Friday but slumped to 292 on Saturday.
 
The 35^th-ranked Bulls (-14) still lead the competition by 11 shots over No. 20 SMU (-3).
 
Third-place WSU finds itself just three strokes back of the Mustangs but will need to fend off several other challengers. Memphis and ECU are tied for fourth at plus-1 and UCF and Cincinnati share sixth-place at plus-5.
 
Due to the potential of morning storms, Sunday tee times have been adjusted and groups will play in foursomes. The top-four teams, including WSU, will start at 7:30 a.m. CT from the first tee. Teams 5-8 will begin at the same time from hole No. 10.
 
ESPN+ will carry a live broadcast from the 17^th and 18^th holes – tentatively scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. CT.
 
Track live scoring via golfstat.com and follow @GoShockersMGLF and @AmericanMWGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the day.
 

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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Apr. 23-25, 2021 | Brooksville, Fla. | Southern Hills Plantation Club
Par 72 | 7,221 Yards | 8 Teams | 40 Individuals
36 of 54 Holes Completed
 
Individual Leaderboard:
1. Marcus Wochner (WSU) – 66-70 -- 136 (-8)
T2. #58 Albin Bergstrom (USF) – 68-71--139 (-5)
T2. Kyle Flexsenhar (USF) – 66-72--139 (-5)
T4.Sam Jean (CIN) – 71-69—140 (-4)
T4. #11 Noah Goodwin (SMU) – 70-70—140 (-4)
 
Shocker Entries:
1. Wochner – 66-70 -- 136 (-8)
T17. Thomas – 76-69 -- 145 (+1)
T21. Owens – 76-71 -- 147 (+3)
T30. Polhill – 80-69 -- 149 (+5)
38. Lewis – 79-73 -- 152 (+8)
 
Team Standings:
1. #35 South Florida – 270-292--562 (-18)
2. #20 SMU – 287-286--573 (-3)
3. Wichita State – 297-279—576 (E)
T4. East Carolina – 287-290 – 577 (+1)
T4. Memphis – 285-292—577 (+1)
T6. UCF – 288-293—581 (+5)
T6. Cincinnati – 289-292 – 581 (+5)
8. Temple – 296-302 – 598 (+12)