No. 3 Texas A&M men’s golf turned in a stellar final round in Hawaii on Saturday to win the John Burns Intercollegiate by 17 strokes. The Aggies ended the tournament at 29-under par (835).
Texas A&M entered the final round six strokes behind UNLV. The Aggies quickly erased the deficit and went on to post the third-lowest score in program history.
“What an amazing day,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said to 12thman.com. “We were six back to start and within three holes we had taken the lead and it just kept getting bigger. We kept hitting good shot after good shot and when you add them all up it became a pretty good score. 29-under on this golf course is obviously really good and today is was tougher than most. Proud of the guys hanging in after a bad finish to the first round to give us a chance to win and come through.”
Chandler Phillips successfully defended his title in Hawaii, shooting sub-70 scores in all three rounds, the only player in the field to do so. The junior finished at 13-under par (69+67+67=203) to earn his fourth career title in the maroon and white, only one shy of the record set by Anthony Rodriguez from 1994-1995. Phillips led the field in par 4 scoring (-5) and total birdies (11) for the week.
“Hats off to Chandler,” Higgins said to 12thman.com. “Pretty incredible to be the first back-to-back champion of this tournament, which is the second oldest tournament in college golf. A lot of great players have played here and none of them were able to pull off a win two years in a row.”
Sophomore Josh Gliege’s consistent play throughout the tournament landed him in a tie for third at seven-under par (69+71+69=209). The top-five finish was his third of the season. For the week, Gliege was top-five in both par 4 (-1) and par 5 (-9) scoring.
Andrew Paysse progressed in scoring throughout the tournament to finish the week at one-under par in a tie for 20th (76+73+66=215). The senior’s final round 66 was the best of his collegiate career and allowed him to jump 43 spots up the leaderboard on Saturday.
“Andrew’s back was bothering him all week and he just sucked it up today to shoot a 66,” Higgins added to his comments to 12thman.com. “He had a really great back-nine with a 31 and then Josh had his best performance with a third-place finish. Great team effort with our entire starting five finishing in the top-20.”
Sophomore Dan Erickson (74+69+72=215) and freshman Walker Lee (71+71+73=215) each also tied for 20th at one-under par. Erickson tied for seventh in par 5 scoring for the week (-8), while Lee finished tied for seventh in total birdies (14). Both were the only Aggies to record an eagle this week.
Competing as an individual, sophomore Brandon Smith earned his best collegiate finish, ending the week in seventh at four-under par (69+69+74=212). Rookie Walker Lee, also competing as an individual, finished at 11-over par in a tie for 90th (77+75+75=227)
“Overall, just a great week for us,” Higgins said to 12thman.com. “We are really excited and looking forward to the next one in Louisiana. We’ll come home and get ready and see if we can keep this up.”
Texas A&M’s next action will come on Feb. 26-27 when they will head to Lafayette to compete in the Louisiana Classics.
Men’s Golf wins John Burns Intercollegiate
February 20, 2018
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