OPELIKA, Ala. – Coming off its best finish of the season — its third straight in the top five — the University of South Alabama men's golf returns to action when play begins on Sunday at the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner hosted by Auburn.

Last time out at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate, the Jaguars' annual home event in the spring, USA opened with its low round of the year with a 10-under-par 278 en route to a season-best 5-under-par 859 54-hole total to place second out of 15 teams in the competition.

Head coach Alex Hamilton hopes the Jags use the same approach in looking for another similar result.  "I think it is the same thing that we have been trying to harp on all year," he said.  "If we can take care of and manage ourselves and play our game, and stay committed to what we are trying to accomplish as individual players, then hopefully at the end of the day if we play well we will stack up well."

Four of the five individuals in the Jag lineup competed at the first event of the spring, all of whom ended up in the top 20 in the individual standings.

Brooks Rabren paced the squad with a career-low 3-under-par 213 total after breaking par in both rounds on the opening day of the tournament, lowering his season scoring average to 71.50.  He has finished in the top 20 individually on both occasions he has played this season, shooting par or better in four of six rounds.

Sylas Elliott and Jason Mendel tied for 11th place two strokes behind Rabren last time out, the third top-20 performance for both during the 2016-17 campaign.  It was also the lowest 54-hole score for the duo this year, with Elliott dropping his season average to 73.29 shots per round and Mendel carrying a 74.21 figure into play this week.

Drew Cooke also shot par of lower in two of three rounds at the Jaguars' home tournament — the senior finished with an even-par 216 total — giving him a six on the season; he now has a 74.29 scoring average over 14 rounds to go along with three top-20 finishes.  Rasmus Karlsson has a 73.65 stroke average coming into the tournament, and he leads South with three top-10 results after tying for third among 37 competitors at the USA Individual Tournament last month.

"We had four guys finish in the top 20 — it was their four scores that counted every round — at our last tournament,  and a good round of qualifying to get ready for this tournament," said Hamilton.  "I think those guys are playing well, and the reason why they played well in the last tournament, in qualifying and hopefully at Auburn is because they are playing some good golf right now.  They are working hard and practicing hard, and I think they are working on the right things, so hopefully they will continue to have good results this week."

A total of 19 schools will take part in the competition, with the host Tigers ranked 23rd in this week's Golfstat.com ratings and two others — Missouri and Kennesaw State — among the top 50 in the nation.  Also playing in the tournament will be Arkansas State, Charlotte, Davidson, Georgia State, James Madison, Kansas State, Louisville, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi State, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, Samford, Troy and West Virginia.

"Our next four tournaments all have pretty solid fields," Hamilton said.  "We have the opportunity in front of us to positively influence where we are in the national rankings.  If we play well, obviously we will be rewarded.  The thing that I am trying to preach to our guys, though, is that the only way we are going to play well is if we are not worrying about that.  If we take care of what we can control, then we will be doing our part in hopefully achieving our goals; we do have goals that are tied into those rankings and having those kind of successes.

"We do have a great opportunity this week, we have great opportunities in front of us with the remaining schedule — including the Sun Belt Conference Championship — so hopefully we will continue to play good golf and the results will follow."

This marks the fifth straight year that the Jaguars will participate in the Tiger Invitational, with USA recording top-five finishes twice during that span.

The event will be held at the par-72, 7,149-yard Grand National Lake Course, with 18 holes scheduled on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and teams starting on the first and 10th tees beginning at 7:30 a.m. (CST) each day.  Live updates will be available throughout the tournament on www.golftstat.com.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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