MELBOURNE, FL – Forced to sit out the first tournament of the spring, the Matlock Classic in mid-February, sophomore Christian Anderson returned to the lineup Monday in the second tournament and helped carry Florida Southern into the lead after two rounds of the Panther Invitational at Duran Golf Club. Anderson's second-round 69 and a pair of 72s from junior John VanDerLaan had the 4th-ranked Moccasins in the lead by five shots over No. 2 Lynn.

Florida Southern opened the tournament with a 300 Monday morning, which had them tied with host No. 12 Florida Tech for the lead. Sitting just two shots behind them was Carson-Newman (TN), with No. 3 Barry and Lynn trailing the co-leaders by three shots. Florida Southern was the only school in the first round though that had all five of its golfers shoot in the 70s, and a 77 by sophomore Michael VanDerLaan was also the best score for any team's fourth counter.

In the second round, the Moccasins turned in a 287 that made them the only team to break par in either round on day one, and that score was fueled by Anderson's 69, his second score in the 60s this season. That included an eagle on the par-five No. 1 hole, which for Anderson came near the end of play. It was the Moccasins' only eagle of the day. He got as low as four-under with one hole to play before closing at -3, a score that tied him with junior John VanDerLaan for third place overall.

In his two rounds Monday, VanDerLaan's score remained between one-under and one-over throughout all 36 holes and he had a team-leading eight birdies with four in each round. That was tied for fourth in the tournament, a list topped by Barry's Niclas Weiland and Lynn's Manuel Torres with 10 apiece. VanDerLaan did most of his damage on the par-fives where he was four-under for the day.

Weiland had six of his birdies in round two when he also had three bogeys to finish with a 69, which tied him with Anderson and Torres for the best single round of the day. That was enough to give Weiland the top spot on the player leaderboard with a three-under par 141, two strokes better than first-round leader Shanren Brienen of Florida Tech, and three strokes better than Anderson and VanDerLaan. Lynn's Mateo Gomes was fifth with a 146, trailing Weiland by five strokes.

Also in the top-10 in the 86-player field was junior John Coultas, who had rounds of 76 and 72 to finish the day at four-over par 148. That put him in 9th place, one stroke ahead of Torres, and it gave each of the team leaders Florida Southern and Lynn three of the top-10 golfers in the tournament. Coultas was five-over through his first nine holes Monday but came back strong after that, playing the final 27 at one-under.

After Michael VanDerLaan was Florida Southern's fourth counter in round one, freshman Chase Ibbotson was the Mocs' fourth in round two with a 74. None of the other 14 teams in the tournament could boast a better score than that from their fourth golfers in either round Monday, and that put Ibbotson in a tie for 22nd place with a total score of 153. VanDerLaan was tied for 34th following his second-round 78 that again gave all five Florida Southern golfers scores in the 70s, something also done by Lynn, Florida Tech, Keiser and junior college program Eastern Florida State in round two.

The Moccasins also had one golfer playing as an individual, with junior Grant Lovell shooting an 86 and 82 to tie for 79th overall.

The final round of the Panther Invitational gets underway Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m.