SAN ANTONIO – Four individuals placed among the top 15 in the final standings to help the University of South Alabama men's golf team get into a playoff, and after posting a 2-under-par total on those extra holes the Jaguars walked away with the title at the Lone Star Invitational on Tuesday.

South recorded group totals of 285 and 294 on the opening day of play, and following another 294 in the final round the Jags were in a three-way tie with Houston and UTA with a 54-hole 873 score.  In the playoff, USA finished one stroke better than the Cougars and were two ahead of the Mavericks.

Yannick Schütz paced the team with a 1-under-par 215 two-day total, highlighted by a 5-under-par 67 over the opening 18 holes, to finish in a tie for fourth in the individual standings.  The duo of Rasmus Karlsson and Jacob LeCroy tied for 10th with a three-round score of 219, while Jordan Plunkett ended up in a tie for 13th place one shot behind the two.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Lone Star Invitational (Texas-San Antonio)
Dates: 9/16-17
Course: TPC San Antonio AT&T Oaks Course (par 72, 7,435 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=18624

TEAM SCORES
1) South Alabama 285-294-294—873 (+9); T2) UTA 290-287-296—873; T2) Houston 289-288-296—873; 4) Lipscomb 294-290-303—887; 5) Little Rock 298-293-301—892; 6) Texas-San Antonio 297-303-296—896; 7) ULM 288—299-312—899; 8) Rice 306-295-300—901; 9) Louisiana 300-303-300—903; 10) New Mexico State 305-298-301—904; 11) McNeese State 300-310-302—912.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Nolan Ray, LU 65-69-73—207 (-9); 2) Guillaume Fanonnel, ULM 69-68-71—208; 3) Paul Gonzalez, UTA 67-69-74—210; T4) Yannick Schütz, USA 67-73-75—215; T4) Jake Benson, Rice 70-71-74—215; 6) Logan Young, UH 69-73-74—216; T7) Luke Long, UH 74-72-71—217; T7) David Harrison*, UTSA 70-72-75—217; 9) Collin Clark, UTSA 73-75-70—218; T10) Rasmus Karlsson 69-78-72—219; T10) Jacob LeCroy, USA 76-72-71—219; T10) Matt Cole, UH 72-73-74—219.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T4) Yannick Schütz 67-73-75—215 (-1); T10) Rasmus Karlsson 69-78-72—219; T10) Jacob LeCroy 76-72-71—219; T13) Jordan Plunkett 73-71-76—20; T51) Dawson Atkinson* 77-73-82—232; T57) Mathias Larentzen 78-79-78—235.
*denotes competed as an individual

TEE SHOTS
-This was the first win for the Jaguars at a stroke-play event since claiming the Samford Intercollegiate in March 2014.
-It marked the first time since coming in third at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate that USA has recorded a top-five finish in its season debut, while it was the Jags' first victory in the opening tournament of the year since winning the Palmer's Toyota Fall Intercollegiate at the Azalea City Golf Course in Mobile in September 2008.
-South's opening-round 3-under-par 285 — keyed by the 67 from Schütz and Karlsson's 69 — was the low 18-hole score of the event.
-The Jags led the field of 11 teams with 49 birdies and were best on par-four holes as a group.
-It was the best individual finish of Schütz' career, who was fifth among 66 competitors with 13 birdies over 54 holes.
-His score in the opening round matched his low 18-hole figure as a Jaguar last recorded at Auburn's Tiger Invitational on March 6, 2018.
-Karlsson — who tied for third in the field after playing par-three holes 1 under for the week — has now placed in the top 10 individually in three of his last four events dating back to the Linger Longer Invitational held March 15-17 last spring.
-Making his collegiate debut, LeCroy shot par or better in each of the last two rounds including firing a team-best 1-under-par 71 on Tuesday.
-Plunkett has posted a top-20 result in each of his last three tournaments dating back to the Old Waverly Collegiate Championship hosted by Mississippi State in April, with the tie for 13th place the best individual finish of his career.
-Competing individually, Dawson Atkinson played the course's back nine at 1 under in the second round en route to a 73, his low 18-hole score of the event.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On opening the season with a tournament victory: "We are obviously very happy, winning is hard — especially nowadays as competitive as it is — so when you get one of these it's fun, you have to enjoy it.  I'm really proud of these guys, they faced some adversity this week but battled and found a way to play through the ups and downs.  It was a team effort and everyone contributed."
On the playoff: "It looked like we were going to miss out by a shot, so when the final totals were posted and we found out we made the playoff the guys were excited and looking forward to it.  I think that helped because we got an opportunity we thought we lost, so they were positive and excited to compete.  They played great and made three pars and two birdies in the playoff counting the best four of five scores and were fortunate enough to win."
On what the team did well this week to win the event: "It's a difficult course, there are spots that are very tight off the tee with very tough green complexes where you have think and put the ball on the right side or you will make bogey quick.  The wind was around, it blew all tournament — and in some instances was pretty stiff — but this group hits it pretty good from tee to green and I think that benefitted them this week.  We always talk about the value of a shot, you have to grind which sometimes is not easy; on a course like this you have to stay patient, which they did.  We had a little bit of a tough stretch in the middle of the final round and things could have gotten away from us, but they held in there and closed well with some birdies coming in.  It was a fun week and a positive start to the season."

Up next: The Jaguars return to action when play gets underway at The Jackrabbit — hosted by South Dakota State in Valentine, Neb. — on Sunday, Sept. 29.

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.

—USA—