It can be really helpful to have the reigning U.S. Amateur
champion in your lineup.
Hearkening back to the kind of clutch play – let’s face it,
you have to possess the clutch gene to win a U.S. Amateur – that won him the
most prestigious title in amateur golf, Doc Redman, a sophomore from Raleigh,
N.C., birdied his last two holes Tuesday to give Clemson, No. 16 in the latest Golfstat rankings, a one-shot victory
over reigning national champion Oklahoma in a thrilling edition of the Puerto
Rico Classic, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Rio Mar Country Club’s Ocean
Course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Redman’s fast finish helped the Tigers post an even-par 284
over the 6,716-yard, par-71 Ocean Course for a 2-over an 854 total that edged
the Cowboys, who entered the Puerto Rico Classic ranked eighth, but moved up a
spot to seventh in the last couple of days. Oklahoma, which opened with a
sizzling 10-under 274, finished up with a 3-over 855 total.
No. 42 Purdue was another two shots behind Oklahoma in third
at 5-over 857 after a final-round 290. No. 10 Georgia Tech, which held a
five-shot lead over Purdue going into the final round after opening with an
8-under 276 and adding a 2-over 286 in the second round, slipped to a 297 in
the final round to finish fourth at 7-over 859, two shots behind Purdue.
Alabama took the No. 1 ranking into the event and fell to
fourth in the rankings after finishing fifth at 866, seven shots behind Purdue.
I’ll mention the rankings often because they are a helpful snapshot of where
everybody stands at that moment, but the Crimson Tide, ranked No. 1 or No. 4,
are formidable.
Alabama boasted the individual champion in Lee Hodges, a
senior from Ardmore, Tenn. whose final round of 1-under 71 gave him a 7-under
206 total and a two-shot victory over Redman’s Clemson teammate Turk Petit, a
freshman from Auburn, Ala. Alabama, led by Hodges, finished up with a solid
4-over 288 in the final round.
Georgia, ranked 77th, finished sixth at 15-over
867, a shot behind Alabama. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bulldogs move up
in the rankings as the spring progresses. North Carolina State, ranked 32nd,
finished seventh in the 15-team field, carding a final-round 300 for an 18-over
870 total, three shots behind Georgia.
Petit was rock solid for Clemson in chasing Hodges home. He
opened with a pair of 2-under 69s and added a final-round 70 to take runnerup
honors in the individual chase at 5-under 208. Backing him up for the Tigers
was Colby Patton, a freshman from Fountain Inn, S.C., who was part of a
five-way tie for seventh at even-par 213.
Patton’s father Chris won the 1989 U.S. Amateur at my
favorite golf course, the historic East Course at Merion Golf Club in the
Ardmore section of Haverford Township. Colby Patton matched par in the final round
with a 72.
The next Clemson player to win the U.S. Amateur, Redman,
finished tied for 17th at 3-over 216. But after a pair of 73s, he
saved his best for last, those two final birdies giving him a final round of
2-under 70.
Bryson Nimmer, a junior from Bluffton, S.C., finished tied
for 21st for the Tigers, a shot behind Redman in the group tied for
21st at 4-over 217. Rounding out the Clemson lineup was Kyle Cottam,
a freshman from Knoxville, Tenn. who finished tied for 52nd at 226 after a
final-round 75.
Heading a group of three players tied for third at 4-under
209 was N.C. State’s Stephen Franken, a junior from Raleigh, N.C. who lit up
the Ocean Course to the tune of a 9-under 62 in the opening round. There were a
lot of low numbers yielded by a vulnerable Ocean Course in Sunday’s opening
round, but 62 is 62. He fell back with rounds of 74 and 73.
Also in that group tied for third at 209 was another Alabama
player, Davis Riley, a junior from Hattiesburg, Miss. Riley was solid
throughout with rounds of 68, 71 and 70. Rounding out the trio at 209 was
Oklahoma’s Quade Cummins, a redshirt sophomore from Weatherford, Okla. Cummins
was equally consistent, sandwiching a 2-under 69 in the middle round with a
pair of 1-under 70s.
Purdue’s Jason Hong, a freshman from Australia, carded a
final-round 70 to finish alone in sixth at 1-under 212.
Georgia Tech had three of its players in the group along
with Clemson’s Patton tied for seventh at even-par 213. They were Noah Norton, a
freshman from Chico, Calif., Tyler Strafaci, a sophomore from Devine, Fla., and
Chris Petefish, a senior from Danville, Calif. Strafaci had a final-round 73
and Norton and Petefish checked in with a 74 and a 75, respectively.
Rounding out the quintet at even-par 213 was Georgia’s Trevor
Phillips, a sophomore from Spartanburg, S.C. Phillips finished up with a 3-over
74.
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