March 19, 2018
PONTE VEDRA, Fla. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" No. 6 Auburn men's used a monster 13-under 275 final round to comeback for a one-stroke victory at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational. It is the third-consecutive win for the Tigers this spring.
Auburn entered the final round in tie for fourth at 1-over, but climbed to the top of the leaderboard behind the excellent final round performance in which 4-of-5 Tiger individuals carded sub-par rounds. The Tigers held off North Carolina (11-under 288-281-284-853) to win by one stroke.
"I'm super proud of the guys. It was a team effort this week," Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. "We didn't play our best yesterday and the guys were fired up to go compete today. We were very fortunate to come away with the win and I'm happy for my guys."
Leading the charge once again for the Tigers was Brandon Mancheno who finished in a tie for third at 7-under 209. The freshman from Jacksonville, Fla. has been a staple for Auburn all season, finishing in the top 15 six times, including five top-10 finishes.
Mancheno was rock steady during Sunday's round carding a bogey-free 5-under 67 with a total of five birdies. It is the seventh round in the 60s he has carded this season.
Jovan Rebula also had a big day in a 3-under 69 performance that saw him rise six spots to tie for eighth. The George, South Africa, product carded five birdies of his own on Nos. 8, 11, 12, 16 and 18, and finished at 3-under74-70-69-213.
A pair of Tigers finished in a tie for the 28th spot at 3-over: All-America senior Ben Schlottman (75-70-74-219) and sophomore Ryan Knop (74-75-70-219). Knop was 2-under in the final round with three birdies and just one bogey on the day.
Freshman Wells Padgett (73-72-75-220) t-31st at 4-over as an individual. Junior Trace Crowe continued to bounce back from his opening round 82 by carding a 3-under 69 to finish t-45th at 7-over 223. The Bluffton, S.C., native sank five birdies in his final round. Graysen Huff, playing as an individual, t-70th with a 80-77-73-230.
Purdue's Brian Carlson won medalist honors at 9-under 67-70-70-207.
Liberty finished in third at 3-under 861 followed by UCF (292-869), Jacksonville (299-870), Purdue (286-872), North Florida (295-873), Louisville (289-876), Washington (298-876) and Tennessee (297-980).
North Texas was 11th at 292-883 followed by Lipscomb (288-884), Furman (291-889), West Virginia (298-892) and Coastal Carolina (292-892) to round out the field.
The Tigers have two more tournaments to be played in the regular season, both in the Carolinas. First up is a trip to Awendaw, S.C. for the Hootie at Bulls Bay at the Bulls Bay Golf Course March 25-27.