BATON ROUGE, La. – Making a move on the final day of a tournament has been the modus operandi of the University of South Alabama men's golf team thus far this fall, and Sunday was no different.

The Jaguars carded a 294 team total — the second-lowest round over the last 18 holes — to move up from 10th place into a tie for sixth in the final standings of the David Toms Intercollegiate hosted by Louisiana State.

The same results could be found on the individual leaderboard as well.  Matt Sheehan, Tyler Klava and Ryan Pope all climbed 10 or more places, while Ally Purdy moved up five to contribute to the team result with their best rounds of the event.  Sheehan led USA with an even-par 72, Klava recorded a 73, Purdy shot a 74 with Pope one stroke behind the latter to help the Jags pass not only nationally-ranked Iowa State — which entered play 38th in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin ratings — but Sun Belt Conference rival Louisiana-Lafayette.

Michael Garretson, who posted a 76 on the last day, led the Jaguars with his second top-20 finish of the season after tying for 20th in the field of 69 with a 228 54-hole score.  Sheehan was two shots behind the senior to tie for 28th — a move up of 13 spots — with Klava climbing 10 slots individually into a tie for 33rd with a three-round total of 232.  Purdy tied for 45th place after carding a 235 over the two days, while Pope moved up 10 spots individually into a tie for 55th after finishing with a 242 total.

USA also had a pair of players competing as individuals, with Daniel Jansen tying for 25th with a 54-hole 229 score and Jason Mendel finishing with a 245 total over three rounds.

"The guys showed up today and knew that if they could get off to a good start — with the difficulty of this golf course — that we would have an opportunity to move up, and thankfully they were able to do so," stated Jag head coach Ben Hannan.

Sheehan began on No. 14 at the par-72, 7,663-yard University Club and was actually 2 over through two holes.  But the sophomore rebounded with back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th before hitting the course's front nine where he would go on to card twos on Nos. 5 and 8 — par threes playing at 173 and 215 yards, respectively — for his second score of par or better on the year.

He tied for second in the field with 11 birdies in the tournament.

Klava had three birdies in the last round, including one to start the day at the 365-yard 15th; he added fours at Nos. 6 and 11 — both par-five holes — while going on to rank among the event leaders with 33 pars.  Purdy was 3-over par after three holes, but he holed out on No. 2 for an eagle two, adding consecutive birdies on the fifth and sixth holes to complete the final 15 holes at 1 under.

"Even though Matt and Ally were over par early, they were playing well," Hannan explained.  "This course is so difficult that you have to be patient and hang in there long enough for something good to happen, and they both did that today to help the team immensely."

Both of Pope's birdies on the last day of the tournament came on par fives, as he opened with a four at the 551-yard 17th before duplicating the feat at No. 3, playing at 673 yards.

Like Purdy, both Garretson and Jansen birdied both the fifth and sixth; the former tacked on a three at the 422-yard 12th hole as the pair posted even-par totals on par-three and par-five holes, and the latter had 36 pars to finish second in the field in the category.  Mendel recorded three birdies in the final round, with two of those coming on his last five holes after a two at the 13th and a four on No. 17.

LSU's Benjamin Taylor was the only individual to complete the event below par, using a 71 in the last round to earn medalist honors with a 2-under-par 214 total.  He helped lead the host team to a two-stroke victory over Southeastern Louisiana after the Tigers posted a 295 in the final round for an 891 score over 54 holes.

The Jaguars will have a week to prepare for the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic hosted by Georgia State, which is slated to begin on Monday, Oct. 13.

"All five guys were competitive today, which is something we can build on," observed Hannan.  "That's been a staple of the good teams we've had in the past."

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).

—USA—

David Toms Intercollegiate
University Club, Baton Rouge, La.
Par 72, 7,663 yards
Team Scores: 1) Louisiana State 302-294-295—891 (+27); 2) Southeastern Louisiana 299-297-297—893; 3) Mercer 309-307-286—902; 4) Winthrop 305-306-298—909; 5) Central Arkansas 319-299-299—917; T6) South Alabama 314-310-294—918; T6) North Texas 312-307-299—918; T8) Iowa State 318-305-296—919; T8) Louisiana-Lafayette 308-309-302—919¬; 10) Louisiana Tech 323-300-306—929; 11) Southern Mississippi 317-313-300—930; 12) Rice 317-314-308—939.

Individual Leaders: 1) Benjamin Taylor, LSU 74-69-71—214 (-2); 2) Emmanuel Kountakis, Mercer 76-75-66—217; 3) Grady Brame, SLU 74-74-70—248; 4) Pep Angles, UCA 73-77-70—220; T5) Casey Fernandez, USM 77-73-73—223; T5) Juan Munoz, NT 76-72-75—223; T5) Haraldur Magnus, ULL 73-79-71—223; T8) Jerry Ren, Mercer 78-73-73—224; T8) Zach Seabolt, Winthrop 74-77-73—224; T10) three individuals with 225.

South Alabama Scores: T20) Michael Garretson 75-77-76—228 (+12); T25) Daniel Jansen* 77-73-79—229; T28) Matt Sheehan 83-75-72—230; T33) Tyler Klava 79-80-73—232; T45) Ally Purdy 77-84-74—235; T56) Ryan Pope 89-78-75—242; T65) Jason Mendel* 84-80-81—245.
*denotes competing as an individual