LOXLEY, Ala. – Following a pair of rounds in the 60s, Jacob LeCroy led the University of South Alabama men's golf team in the final tournament of the fall season with the conclusion of the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational Sunday at the Steelwood Country Club.

LeCroy carded a 69 in the morning on the opening day of play Saturday before recording a 4-under-par 68 in the afternoon on the way to a 5-under-par 211 total to tie for fifth place in the individual standings.  Kevin Dahlberg shot par or better in both rounds on Saturday as well while Eli Mitchell posted scores of 71 and 70 over the final 36 holes as the duo tied for 22nd individually at 215, with Jack Hearn two strokes behind the pair after shooting 72 and 70 on the first day of the event.

With scores of 280 and 279 in the opening two rounds, Missouri had a 17-under-par 847 group score to hold off Kentucky by two strokes.  Mississippi State's Ford Clegg — the defending individual champion — earned medalist honors once again with an 11-under-par 205 total after posting a pair of 67s on Saturday.  The Jaguars had a 5-under-par two-day 859 score to finish seventh in the team standings, two shots out of the top five.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Event (host): Steelwood Collegiate Invitational (South Alabama)
Dates: 10/30-31 (Saturday-Sunday)
Course: Steelwood Country Club (par 72, 7,096 yds)
Live scoring: http://results.golfstat.com//public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=23432
Final results

TEAM SCORES
1) Missouri 280-279-288—847 (-17); 2) Kentucky 287-279-283—849; 3) Memphis 296-281-274—851; 4) Mississippi State 287-278-289—854; 5) Kansas State 290-280-287—857; 6) UAB 286-289-283—858; 7) South Alabama 282-282-295—859; 8) Cincinnati 287-289-284—860; 9) Rutgers 280-285-304—869; 10) Wisconsin 299-288-283—870; 11) Louisiana Tech 294-294-288—876; 12) North Alabama 298-295-284—877; 13) Rice 304-289-291—884; 14) Kennesaw State 307-303-291—901.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1) Ford Clegg, MSU 67-67-71—205 (-11); 2) Garrett Wood, UK 70-72-65—207; T3) Tyran Snyders, UM 76-68-65—209; T3) Esteban Vazquez, UM 72-71-66—209; T5) Jacob LeCroy, USA 69-68-74—211; T5) Cameron Huss, UW 71-74-66—211; T5) Will Hopkins, K-State 72-69-70—211; T8) eight individuals with 212.

SOUTH ALABAMA SCORES
T5) Jacob LeCroy 69-68-74—211 (-5); T22) Kevin Dahlberg 68-72-75—215; T22) Eli Mitchell* 74-71-70—215; T32) Jack Hearn 72-70-75—217; T40) Dawson Atkinson 73-74-73—220; T47) Jordan Plunkett 77-72-73—222; T61) Mathias Lorentzen* 75-77-73—225.
*denotes competed as an individual

TEE SHOTS
-This year's edition of the event — the fifth since 2016 — featured 14 teams and 78 individuals.
-South's 282 team score in each of the first two rounds of the tournament on Saturday equaled its lowest 18-hole score of the year first recorded on the second day of the season-opening Jim Rivers Intercollegiate.
-The Jags tied for second in the field with 58 birdies on the weekend, and were also one of three teams to post multiple eagles.
-It was the third consecutive top-20 result for LeCroy, who recorded a team-best 15 birdies over 54 holes including nine in the opening round highlighted by four straight on a stretch from No. 11-14.
-Both he and Mitchell posted the low three-round totals of their careers, with Dahlberg matching his low score set in his collegiate debut Sept. 27-28 at UAB's Graeme McDowell Invitational.
-In his first semester at South, Hearn shot par or better in six of 12 rounds highlighted by a stretch of 16 bogey-free holes — which included three birdies — to close out play on Saturday.
-Atkinson played the back nine of the course at 8-under par on his way to matching his best 54-hole score of the season.
-Plunkett went without a bogey over the final 12 holes on the first day of the tournament, making three birdies during that stretch to post his fourth round at or below par on the year.
-Lorentzen was one of nine individuals in the field to play the course's par-three holes below par.

THEY SAID IT
Head coach Ben Hannan
On the South's overall performance at the final event of the fall season: "We played a lot of very good golf this weekend, this is the second event in row we entered the last round starting in second place with a great opportunity.  We were in it with nine holes to go and unfortunately didn't close like we wanted.  I know the guys are disappointed, but to be in position in a field like this on the back nine in last round is certainly something we can build on.  A lot of good golf had to be played to get in that position.  It's a process, we will learn from this experience and it will help us for the spring season."
On the play of Jacob LeCroy this weekend and in the fall: "Jacob has really honed in on his ball striking, he's driving it well and mentally has been very present the last three events.  He has continued to learn and grow, especially with his decision making.  His overall short game has also improved, which certainly helps with scoring.  He's always been a hard worker, but now he is practicing smarter, preparing better and gaining confidence from doing the right things.  He is starting to show up every week and put himself in position to win.  It's nice to see his hard work pay off."
On what the team will focus on in preparation for the spring campaign: "Everything is a teachable situation and a process.  The idea is to not only learn from these experiences this fall, but apply the lessons moving forward.  Over the last four events we've gotten contributions from multiple guys, which means we've got a solid team.  This offseason each player needs to focus on improving that one thing that is worth a shot a round, and that one thing is different from guy to guy.  The offseason is an opportunity to get better and that's where our focus will be."

Junior Jacob LeCroy
On what he did well to earn this weekend's result in the individual standings: "Coming into the tournament I was hitting it well, I played really well in qualifying.  The last two times I played out here I think I shot 66, although those obviously weren't tournament conditions.  Coach Hannan and I have been working a lot, I've been hitting a lot of greens and giving myself opportunities.  The approach this week was to get a lot of opportunities and if the putts fell I knew I could get under par."
On what has led to his success throughout the fall season: "It's a mindset really.  I've worked hard and been hitting it better with both Coach Hannan and [swing] Coach [Wayne] Flint, what has really helped has been my mental focus and knowing when I do get in bad spots it's ok because there's always another hole.  I wish I didn't make three straight bogeys on the back nine, but that happens and hopefully I'll have chance to get those back."
On what he learned he needs to focus on to continue his current level of play: "One of the biggest things I want to do is get a little longer off the tee to help me hit shorter clubs into greens and have the hole proximity become smaller and have more opportunities.  From there I need to keep doing what I've been doing, I'm not worried about changing a lot swing-wise because we've got it dialed in really well.  I played good enough the first day [of this tournament] to take it really low and just had some bad mistakes and made some bad shots, which happens.  Everybody hits bad shots no matter who you are, it's about getting yourself out of those situations efficiently and then getting on to the next hole."

Up next: USA is off until Feb. 14-15 when it plays host to the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Golf Course.

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—