OPELIKA, Ala. – Both Rasmus Karlsson and Kyle Robinson posted top-20 performances at Auburn's Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner, leading a group of four University of South Alabama men's golfers in the top 30 of the final individual standings and helping the Jaguars finish third as a team at the event.
Robinson's 71 was the South's low score Tuesday in the final round of the tournament, while Karlsson carded a 73 as both tied for 17th individually with three-day totals of 218. Peter Staalbo and Jordan Plunkett carded scores of 72 over the last 18 holes of play, giving the Jags an even-par 288 score for the round and an 872 figure over three days; USA moved past fellow Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas State — ranked 21st nationally entering the event — into third place in the team standings.
After recording its second straight 8-under-par 280 score, No. 10 Auburn earned the title with a 54-hole total of 11-under-par 853, besting sixth-ranked Southern Methodist by 10 strokes. The Tigers' Brandon Mancheno and Wyatt Larkin of Kennesaw State each posted three-round 4-under-par 212 scores, with the former claiming medalist honors by winning the first hole of a playoff.
TEAM SCORES
1) Auburn 293-280-280—853 (-11): 2) Southern Methodist 295-287-281—863; 3) South Alabama 297-287-288—872; 4) Arkansas State 283-300-290—873; 5) Kennesaw State 303-294-281—878; T6) UNC-Wilmington 301-289-289—879; T6) Auburn 'B' 296-295-288—879; 8) ULM 304-289-287—880; T9) Georgia State 295-296-299—890; T9) Western Kentucky 306-292-292—890; T9) Chattanooga 305-299-286—890; 12) Mercer 295-304-292—891; 13) Missouri 301-299-293—893; 14) Austin Peay 307-300-295—902; 15) Florida Atlantic 304-310-290—904; 16) Lipscomb 315-303-297—915.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Brandon Mancheno$, AU 74-68-70—212 (-4); 2) Wyatt Larkin, KSU 72-71-69—212; T3) Guillaume Fanonnel, ULM 75-69-69—213; T3) McClure Meissner, SMU 74-72-67—213; T3) Noah Goodwin, SMU 72-73-68—213; T3) Josh Edgar, GSU 68-70-75—213; 7) Trace Crowe, AU 77-70-67—214; T8) Julien Sale, A-State 71-74-70—215; T8) Blake McShea, UNCW 75-74-66—215; T10) Joel Wendin, A-State 66-79-71—216; T10) Jovan Rebula, AU 74-69-73—216.
$denotes won on the first hole of a playoff
SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T17) Rasmus Karlsson 75-70-73—218 (+2); T17) Kyle Robinson 71-76-71—218; T25) Peter Staalbo 74-74-72—220; T29) Jordan Plunkett 77-72-72—221; T59) Dawson Atkinson* 72-81-76—229; T62) Yannick Schütz 83-71-76—230.
*denotes competed as an individual
TEE SHOTS
-The event field featured 16 teams — host Auburn had two squads in the competition — and 84 individuals.
-It was the Jaguars' first three-day tournament of the season.
-The final result was not only South's best finish of the year, but its highest ever in seven tries at the tournament as well.
-It is the second straight outing that Robinson has placed among the top 20 individually; he has now shot par or better in three of the last four rounds after accomplishing the feat once in the fall.
-The sophomore transfer recorded three of his team-leading five birdies in the last round on par fives to finish play among the top five in the field with a 7 under score on those holes.
-Karlsson posted three birdies to go along with an eagle on the 522-yard 12th hole for his first top-20 performance of the season.
-Staalbo was 1 under on the back side of the course in carding his third round at or below par this spring and his sixth of the year.
-Plunkett is now tied for the team lead with eight scores at or under par as his 37 pars over the last three days were one shy of sharing the lead in the category; the freshman was also among the top 10 in the field with a 1 over total on par fours.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the team's performance throughout the tournament: "It was a good week for us, there were a lot of positives that we can take and build on. The guys are getting better, and that's the goal for the spring. Their hard work and practice regimens are starting to pay off, we're getting closer. This was a nice week where some solid golf was played, especially the last 36 holes."
On the final round on Tuesday: "We played well as a group today, on a golf course like this that is demanding on a lot of shots you have to be mentally stable and you have to execute. To have five guys generally in the game was huge, it takes the pressure off and they were able to really focus on the process."
On the play of Karlsson and Robinson in the event: "The par fives are really where you have to perform on this golf course, that's where the opportunities lie and they both played those holes well. They got off to pretty solid starts the last 36 holes and were able to execute and make putts, they played well but were really close to playing exceptional the last two rounds. There were a lot of positive things not only for them but the group as a whole, some things we can build on and of course some things we have to get better at as well. That will be the goal moving forward."
Up next: The Jaguars are off until Friday, March 15, when the first round gets underway at the Linger Longer Invitational in Eatonton, Ga.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Birdie Club — the men's golf specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Birdie Club go directly to support the South Alabama men's golf program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/birdieclub.
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