Auburn rallies in final round to capture team crown in Mason Rudolph Championship

 

   With what figures to be a contentious Southeastern Conference Championship coming fast, reigning SEC and national champion Auburn made another statement that it is in it for the long run as the Tigers rallied with a spectacular final round to claim the team title in the Mason Rudolph Championship at a hybrid layout at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.

   Vanderbilt, the runnerup to Auburn in the SEC Championship’s match-play final a year ago, was playing host to the Mason Rudolph Championship, originally scheduled to be played as single rounds Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

   But with a slow-moving spring soaker crawling through the mid-South, tournament officials took nine holes from the North Course and nine holes from the South Course, got players on the golf course Friday and played when they could, somehow completing 54 holes in between the raindrops in two days.

   While I’ll report on where everybody stood after two rounds, the reality is that the second round ended sometime Saturday morning and there was never any time for anybody to sit back and digest where they stood.

   There was none of the continuity that a normal tournament might have. It was just put your head down and keep playing.

   And Auburn, No. 2 in the latest Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, showed it could play that game, too.

   This is a very different Vanderbilt team than the one that fell to Auburn in the SEC Championship a year ago. But the Commodores, No. 18 in the Scoreboard rankings, are still very, very talented.

   Vanderbilt’s Wells Williams, a junior from West Point, Miss. and No. 32 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), captured the individual title with a 15-under-par 198 total over the 7,114-yard, par-71 hybrid of North and South Courses at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

   But Auburn had the runnerup in stud Jackson Koivun, a sophomore from Chapel, Hill, N.C. and No. 2 in the WAGR, the third-place finisher in redshirt senior Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York and No. 30 in the WAGR, and a third guy in Brendan Valdes, a senior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 7 in the WAGR, who finished in a tie for fourth.

   Vanderbilt opened with a splash as Ryan Downes, a freshman from Longmeadow, Mass., fired a fairly spectacular 10-under 61, tying a couple of program records for total and total in relation to par.

   Downes fueled an opening round of 16-under 268 for the Commodores and they added a 12-under 272 in the second round that gave them a two-shot lead over Mississippi, another SEC entry that has risen to No. 3 in the Scoreboard rankings. Auburn trailed Vandy by six and Ole Miss by two.

   Auburn went off in the final 18 holes, matching Vanderbilt’s sizzling start with a 16-under 268 of its own to finish with a 38-under 814 total.

   Ole Miss closed with a 9-under 275 to earn runnerup honors with a 33-under 819 total and Vanderbilt stumbled in the final round with a 1-over 285 that left the Commodores six shots behind Ole Miss in third place with a 27-under 825 total.

   Auburn had opened with an 8-under 276 and started to gain momentum with a 14-under 270 in the second round.

   Koivun, winner of both the Fred Haskins and Ben Hogan awards as a freshman a year ago, was routinely excellent, adding a 5-under 66 in the second round to his opening-round 67 before closing with another 67 for a 13-under 200 total that left him two shots behind Williams, the winner.

   Bacha is quietly putting together as good a college career as any player emerging from Pennsylvania maybe ever, certainly in this era when there are a lot more eyeballs on college golf.

   After opening with a 3-under 68, Bacha added a 67 in the second round before closing with a sparkling 5-under 66 to finish a shot behind his teammate Koivun in third place with a 12-under 201 total.

   After opening with a 1-under 70, Valdes rattled off back-to-back 5-under 66s in the final two rounds to join Kentucky’s Jack Schoenberger, a junior from Alpharetta, Ga., in a tie for fourth place, a shot behind Bacha at 11-under 202.

   It was Auburn’s fourth tournament win of the wraparound 2024-2025 season and the third victory of the spring for the Tigers, who captured the team crowns in the Southern Highlands Collegiate at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev. and in the General Hackler Championship at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C., both last month.

   Auburn has one more tournament on its regular-season schedule, next week’s Ford Invitational at The Ford Field and River Club in Savannah, Ga.

   Then the Tigers will defend their title in what promises to be an epic shootout in the SEC Championship, which tees off April 23 at what has become its traditional home at the Sea Island Resort on Saint Simons Island, Ga.

   Mississippi put together back-to-back really solid 12-under 272s in the first two rounds at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. Ole Miss closed with a solid 9-under round, but just couldn’t quite keep up with Auburn’s final-round surge as the Rebels settled for runnerup honors.

   Ole Miss failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. as a two seed in the Stanford Regional. The Rebels are undoubtedly looking for some redemption this spring.

   Williams led the way for Vanderbilt as he was nearly as good as his teammate Downes with a sizzling 8-under 63 in the opening round and added a 3-under 68 in the second round before closing with a 67 to finish at 15-under and claim his second individual title of the wraparound 2024-’25 season.

   Vanderbilt earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last spring’s NCAA Championship at La Costa, but was knocked off by Ohio State in the quarterfinals.

   Another SEC entry, Kentucky, No. 83 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished 15 shots behind Vanderbilt in fourth place as the Wildcats opened with a 1-under 283 and added a solid 8-under 276 in the second round before closing with a 3-under 281.

   Kentucky was led by Schoenberger, who joined Auburn’s Valdes in the tie for fourth place at 11-under. After opening with a 1-under 70, Schoenberger registered a sparkling 6-under 65 in the second round before closing with a 4-under 67.

   Charlotte, an Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) representative, was another four shots behind Kentucky in fifth place with an 8-under 844 total. After opening with a 3-over 287, the 49ers recorded a solid 10-under 274 in the second round before closing with a 1-under 283.

   Mississippi State, another SEC entry and No. 31 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished a shot behind Charlotte in sixth place with a 7-under 845 total. The Bulldogs opened with a solid 5-under 279 and added a 4-under 280 in the second round before closing with a 2-over 286.

   Mississippi State failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a seven seed in the West Lafayette Regional.

   Pretty encouraging performance in difficult conditions against a strong field for second-year head coach Mark Leon’s Penn State team as the Nittany Lions, out of the Big Ten, finished in eighth place in the 14-team field with a 5-over 857 total.

   After opening with a 4-over 288, Penn State added a 1-over 285 in the second round before matching par in the final round with a 284.

   Backing up the top three for Auburn was Josiah Gilbert, a sophomore from Pratville, Ala. and No. 21 in the WAGR who finished among the group tied for 22^nd place with a 1-under 212 total. Gilbert twice matched par with a pair of 71s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-under 70.

   Koivun, Bacha, Valdes and Gilbert were all in the lineup for Auburn in its 3-2 victory over Florida State in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match last spring at La Costa.

   Rounding out the Auburn lineup was Ryan Eshleman, a redshirt senior from Birmingham, Ala. who finished among the trio tied for 26^th place with an even-par 216 total. Eshleman registered back-to-back 1-over 72s in the first two rounds before contributing a counting 2-under 69 to the Tigers’ final-round surge.

   Depth? Yeah, Auburn has that, too, as two Tigers competed as individuals and finished among the top 22 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

   Cayden Pope, a sophomore from Lexington, Ky., finished among the trio tied for 18^th place with a 4-under 209 total. After opening with a 2-over 73, Pope posted a 4-under 67 in the second round before closing with a 2-under 69.

   Freshman Billy Davis of Spring Valley, Calif., the twin brother of Anna Davis, a standout on the Auburn women’s team, finished in the group tied for 22^nd place with a 1-under 212 total. After opening with a 1-under 70, Davis added a 3-over 74 in the second round before closing with a solid 3-under 68.

   Vanderbilt’s Downes cooled off after his blazing start as he finished in a tie for sixth place in the individual standings with Mississippi State’s Garrett Endicott, a junior from San Antonio, Texas and Ole Miss’ Michael La Sasso, a junior from Raleigh, N.C. and No. 16 in the WAGR, all three landing on 9-under 204.

   Downes added a 1-under 70 in the second round to his scintillating opening-round 61 before closing with a 2-over 73.

   Endicott was very much in the hunt for the individual title after he added a sparkling 6-under 65 in the second round to his opening-round 69 before closing with a 1-under 70.

   La Sasso carded back-to-back 4-under 67s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-under 70.

   La Sasso’s Old Miss teammate, Tom Fischer, a junior from Birmingham, Ala., finished alone in ninth place with an 8-under 205 total. Fischer had three rounds in the 60s, recording back-to-back 2-under 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 4-under 67.

   Jackson Van Paris, a senior from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 9 in the WAGR, gave Vanderbilt a third finisher in the top 10 as he shared 10^th place with a third Ole Miss player in the top 10, Cameron Tankersley, a junior from Dickson, Tenn., and Kentucky’s Jansen Preston, a redshirt senior home boy from Lexington, Ky.

   After opening with a 2-under 69, Van Paris contributed a 5-under 66 to a solid second round for the Commodores before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Tankersley opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 4-under 67 in the second round before closing with a 2-under 69. After opening with a 1-over 72, Preston recorded a sparkling 6-under 65 in the second round before closing with a 2-under 69.

   Leading the way for Penn State was Jake Griffin, a senior from Kensington, Md. who closed with a sparkling 5-under 66 to finish among the group tied for 13^th place at 6-under 207. Griffin had opened with a 2-over 73 before adding a 3-under 68 in the second round.

   Backing up Griffin for the Nittany Lions was Andres Barraza, a junior from Parkland, Fla. who finished in the group tied for 32^nd place with a 2-over 215 total. Barraza got off to a solid start with a 3-under 68 in the opening round and added a 2-over 73 in the second round before closing with a 74.

   Alex Creamean, a sophomore from Winnetka, Ill., finished a shot behind Barraza in the group tried for 37^th place with a 3-over 216 total. Creamean opened with a 1-over 72 and added a 4-over 75 in the second round before closing with a solid 2-under 69.

   Creamean was coming off his first career top-five finish for Penn State as he ended up in a tie for fourth place in The Johnnie-O at Sea Island, which was shortened to two rounds by weather issues last month.

   Creamean finished with a 3-under 137 total at the Sea Island Resort on Saint Simons Island, Ga. Penn State finished last of 13 teams with a 19-over 299 total.

   Zach Smith, a sophomore from Canada, finished among the group tied for 55^th place in the Mason Rudolph Championship with a 6-over 219 total. Smith sandwiched a solid 2-under 69 in the second round with a pair of 4-over 75s.

   Rounding out the Penn State lineup was Will Preston, a freshman from Grand Rapids, Mich. who finished alone in 79^th place with a 231 total. After struggling with an 80 in the opening round, Preston added a 4-over 75 in the second round before closing with a 76.

   Penn State will finish off its regular season by hosting the annual Rutherford Intercollegiate at the Blue Course this weekend.

   That will be the Nittany Lions’ final tuneup for the Big Ten Championship, which tees off April 25 at Baltimore Country Club’s Five Farms East Course, an A.W. Tillinghast masterpiece.

   Liberty, a Conference USA entry, was led by senior Josh Ryan, the Norristown native and winner of the Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ Championship three years in a row, and freshman Michael Lugiano, who capped an outstanding scholastic career at Lake Lehman by finishing in a tie for second place in the PIAA Class AA Championship in 2023, as both finished in the group tied for 22^nd place at 1-under 212.

   Ryan, who finished in a tie for third place behind Auburn’s Bacha in the PIAA Class AAA Championship in 2019, closed with a sparkling 5-under 66 at the Vanderbilt Legends Course. He had opened with a 1-over 72 before adding a 4-over 75 in the second round.

   Lugiano added a 1-under 70 in the second round to his solid opening round of 2-under 69 before closing with a 2-over 73.

   Also in the lineup for Liberty was junior Evan Barbin, the youngest of the golfing Barbin brothers of Elkton, Md., as he finished in 81^st place with a 235 total. Barbin added a 4-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 77 before struggling in the final round with an 83.

   Liberty, which captured the title in its first season in Conference USA a year ago, finished in a tie for ninth place with Tulsa in the team standings with a 6-over 858 total.