WEST POINT, Miss. – Despite weather conditions splitting round two over two days, University of South Alabama senior men's golfer Tyler Klava overcame the obstacles and finished tied for eighth overall out of 84 participants following the final round of the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship on Tuesday.

"Tyler had a great week of preparation and it certainly paid off this week," Jaguar head coach Ben Hannan said. "He was in control throughout all three rounds and posted competitive scores. He was in complete control in all aspects of the competition and capitalized on his opportunities. For the final round he played solid, but he just couldn't get any momentum and closed at 73."

Klava carded an even-par 36 on the front nine and posted a birdie on the 14th hole to conclude the third round, which led to his 5-under par total of 211. This is the third time this spring the redshirt senior placed in the top 10 individually.

Fellow senior Michael Garretson posted a 5-over par 221 total score; he carded one birdie on the front nine and three more over the final nine holes to complete a 74 third-round score and tied for 36th overall. Sophomore Matt Sheehan recorded a 1-over-par 73 over the final 18 holes – including three birdies on the back nine – to tie for 62nd overall with a 227 total score. After an even-par 72 in the second round, redshirt freshman Jason Mendel posted a final-round 76 score to finish tied for 65th overall with a total score of 228. 

Daniel Jansen, a junior, finished tied for 67th with a final score of 229. Redshirt freshmen Ally Purdy – who competed individually – carded two birdies at the 15th and 16th holes to turn in a 1-over-par 73 in the third round. Purdy tied for 70th overall with a final score of 230.

"We started the event well and closed ok during the first round," commented Hannan. "For the second round, we were playing well as a group and then the storms came back in to postpone the round until the next day. Starting the second round again we dropped a few shots coming in and after that really couldn't gain any more momentum.

"Any time you are playing well, you want to complete the round. However everybody dealt with the same circumstances; it's an outdoor sport so you have to deal with the elements."

USA (297-290-303) finished 10th out of 15 teams with a total team score of 880 at the par-72, 7,088-yard Old Waverly Golf Club course. UAB (285-279-286) won the tournament with a team score of 850, while Florida (289-278-284) finished second only one stroke behind at 851.

Southern Mississippi's Casey Fernandez (71-68-66) was the medalist after recording six birdies on the final 18 holes with a three-round score of 205. Blake Morris (70-68-68) from Ole Miss placed second only one stroke behind at 206.

"Tyler having a top-10 finish in this field is going to help moving forward. We got some solid rounds from some of the other guys that we can build upon," said Hannan. "We still haven't got everybody on the same page, which is the key to our success. We will address those issues in the coming week and get ready for the conference tournament."

The Jags will be back in action at the Sun Belt Conference Championship on April 19-21 at Miramar Beach, Fla.

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