Sherwood sizzles in Cabo, claiming individual title and leading Vanderbilt to the team crown

    Only one player in the elite field that gathered for last summer’s U.S. Amateur broke par at the iconic Oakmont Country Club layout in the opening round of qualifying for match play.

   That would be Cole Sherwood, a sophomore at Vanderbilt from Austin, Texas. The kind of talent it takes to grind out a 1-under-par 69 with the USGA setting up Oakmont was on display Tuesday in the final round of the Cabo Collegiate Invitational at the Cabo del Sole Cove Club Course in Los Cabos, Mexico as Sherwood established a single-round record at Vanderbilt with an eye-popping 10-under 61 that earned him the individual title and led the Commodores to the team crown against a loaded field.

   Vanderbilt, the reigning Southeastern Conference champion, is always good and this group of Commodores is really starting to look like something special. Coming off a 10-shot victory in The Prestige at the Greg Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., Vanderbilt, fueled by Sherwood’s heroics, closed with a program-record final round of 19-under 265 to hold on for a two-shot victory over Texas Tech.

   Vanderbilt began the week at No. 21 in the Golfstat rankings, but rose all the way to No. 6 in the aftermath of their victory in Cabo. The Commodores opened with a 3-under 281 over the 6,807-yard, par-71 Cove Club Course layout. After a solid 10-under 284 in Monday’s second round, they were five shots behind the co-leaders, Florida State and Oklahoma State.

   Vandy, Florida State and Oklahoma State were the three teams in the field that were among the last eight standing for match play in last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club, all three arriving in Scottsdale, Ariz. after winning regional team crowns.

   The spectacular 265 final round left head coach Scott Limbaugh’s Commodores with a 32-under 820 total.

   Somehow that 265 was not the low team round of the day as the Big 12’s Texas Tech closed with a remarkable 22-under 262 to finish a hard-charging second behind Vanderbilt with a 30-under 822 total. The Red Raiders moved up a notch from No. 8 to No. 7 in the Golfstat rankings with their second runnerup finish of the spring.

   Texas Tech had matched Vanderbilt’s opening-round 281 and was 10 shots behind the co-leaders after adding a 5-under 279 in Monday’s second round.

   Florida State, the runnerup in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s first match-play final last spring, closed with a solid 11-under 273, but saw itself get passed by Vanderbilt and Texas Tech as the Seminoles finished in third place with a 29-under 823 total. Florida State, which moved up from No. 41 to a still underrated No. 33, had opened with a 12-under 272 and added a 6-under 278 in Monday’s second round.

   Three of Vanderbilt’s SEC rivals, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee, were lined up behind Florida State in the next three spots in the team standings.

   The Razorbacks moved up from No. 7 to a lofty No. 3 in the Golfstat rankings with their fourth-place finish. Arkansas was solid throughout, adding a 7-under 277 in Monday’s second round to their opening-round 276 and closed with its best round of the week, a 13-under 271, to finish with a 28-under 824 total.

   Somehow, the fifth-place finish for Ole Miss bumped the Rebels down a spot in the Golfstat rankings from No. 16 to No. 17. Ole Miss opened with a solid 10-under 274 and added a 5-under 279 before closing with a 7-under 277 that left it two shots behind Arkansas with a 22-under 830 total.

   Tennessee dropped three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 10 to No. 13 as the Volunteers finished a shot behind Ole Miss with a 21-under 831 total. After opening with a 279, Tennessee posted a 6-under 278 in Monday’s second round before finishing strong with a 10-under 274.

   Oklahoma State, however, moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 in the Golfstat rankings despite faltering, if a 2-under 282 final round can be considered faltering, and finishing a shot behind Tennessee in seventh place in the elite 15-team field in seventh place with a 20-under 832 total.

   Maybe the Cowboys were keeping half an eye on their Big 12 and in-state rival Oklahoma, the Sooners solidifying their hold on the No. 1 spot in the rankings with an impressive team win in this week’s other big tournament, the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas (next in line for a blog post in this busy week of college golf).

   Whether you’re a fan of the Sooners or the Cowboys, any Oklahoman would be forgiven for pointing with pride to the top of the Golfstat rankings and the state’s respective 1-2 spots.

   Oklahoma State, with a win in The Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii and a runnerup finish in the Gators Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. this spring, grabbed the team lead with its opening round of 13-under 271 in Cabo and still had a share of the lead after adding a 5-under 279 in Monday’s second round before finally cooling off a little in the final round.

   Sherwood started slowly with a 1-under 70 and got it going with a 6-under 65 in Monday’s second round that left him three shots behind the leader, Arizona’s Chase Sienkiewicz, a junior from Sacramento, Calif. who had ripped off back-to-back 5-under 66s in the first two rounds.

   And then Sherwood went off in Tuesday’s final round. Starting at the seventh hole, Sherwood made a birdie at the eighth and then made an eagle 2 at the par-4 11^th followed by back-to-back birdies at 12 and 13. After a momentary stumble with a bogey at the 14^th hole, Sherwood made birdies at 16 and one before making eagles at his two remaining par-5s, the second and fourth holes, to finish off his scintillating 10-under round.

   Sherwood’s 196 total lowered the Vanderbilt program record held by PGA Tour veteran Brandt Snedeker that was set in the 2002 Mason Rudolph Championship, by two shots.

   Backing up Sherwood for the Commodores was Gordon Sargent, a freshman from Birmingham, Ala. and No. 35 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) who finished in a tie for seventh place with a 10-under 203 total. Sargent’s probably still trying to figure out how an opening round of 6-under 66 followed by a 68 in Monday’s second round and a final-round 69 earns him only a tie for seventh place, but that speaks to the quality of this field.

   Reid Davenport, Vandy’s senior leader from Austin, Texas and No. 82 in the WAGR, finished among the group tied for 38^th place with a 1-under 212 total. After struggling to a 75 in the opening round, Davenport added a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before contributing a 4-under 67 to the Commodores’ final-round surge.

   Jackson Van Paris, a freshman from Pinehurst, N.C., also saved his best for last, a final round of 3-under 68 leaving him among the group tied for 42^nd place with an even-par 213 total. Van Paris had opened with a 70 before struggling a little with a 75 in Monday’s second round.

   Rounding out the Vanderbilt lineup was Matthew Riedel, a junior from Houston who finished among the group tied for 62^nd place with a 7-over 220 total. Riedel bounced back from an opening-round 76 by matching par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a 73.

   Sherwood, Davenport and Riedel were all in the lineup in Vanderbilt’s 4-1 loss to Oklahoma State in last spring’s quarterfinals in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk with Davenport recording the lone win for the Commodores.

   Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, a sophomore from Wellesley, Mass. and No. 26 in the WAGR, earned a solid runnerup finish, albeit four shots behind Sherwood’s scorching pace with a 13-under 200 total.

   Nobody is surprised to see the guy who defeated Akshay Bhatia in the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur final at Baltusrol Golf Club excelling at the college level. Thorbjornsen matched Sherwood’s 1-under 69 in the second round of qualifying for match play at Oakmont last summer as he finished third.

   After opening with a 69 at Cabo, Thorbjornsen fired a 5-under 66 and was tied with Sherwood after two rounds before closing with a sparkling 6-under 65.

   Baylor’s Johnny Keefer, a junior from San Antonio, Texas and No. 86 in the WAGR, and Houston’s Alexander Frances, a graduate student from Denmark, finished in a tie for third place, a shot behind Thorbjornsen, each registering a 12-under 201 total.

   After matching par with a 71 in the opening round, Keefer added a 67 in Monday’s second round before closing with a sizzling 8-under 63. Frances opened with a 69 before rattling off back-to-back 5-under 66s in the last two rounds.

   Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, a junior from Sweden and No. 2 in the WAGR, and Florida State’s Frederik Kjettrup, a sophomore from Denmark and No. 84 in the WAGR, finished in a tie for fifth place, a shot behind Keefer and Frances at 11-under 202.

   Aberg, who finished in a tie for eighth place in the NCAA Championship’s individual chase at Grayhawk last spring, struggled in the opening round with a 74 and then proceeded to go off to the tune of a 65 in Monday’s second round and a sizzling 8-under 63 in Tuesday’s final round.

   After opening with a 68, Kjettrup recorded back-to-back 4-under 67s to join Aberg at 11-under.

   Joining Vanderbilt’s Sargent in the tie for seventh place at 10-under was Tennessee’s Bryce Lewis, a redshirt sophomore from Hendersonville, Tenn. and No. 62 in the WAGR. After carding back-to-back 2-under 69s in the first two rounds, Lewis surged up the leaderboard with a final round of 6-under 65.

   Oklahoma State’s Eugenio Chacarra, a senior from Spain and No. 4 in the WAGR, finished alone in ninth place as he added a 68 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 67 before closing with a 69 to finish with a 9-under 204 total.

   Chacarra, the individual champion when the Cowboys opened the spring portion of the wraparound 2021-’22 season in early February in The Amer Ari in Hawaii, was also part of that group tied for eighth place along with Aberg in the NCAA Championship last spring at Grayhawk.

   Rounding out the top 10 in the individual standings were Kjettrup’s Florida State teammate, Brett Roberts, a sophomore from Coral Springs, Fla., and Arkansas’ Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, a junior from Argentina, as they finished in a tie for 10^th place, each landing on 8-under 205.

   Roberts was steady throughout, posting back-to-back 3-under 68s in the first two rounds before finishing up with a 69. Fernandez de Oliveira added a 6-under 65 to his opening-round 69 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Arizona’s Sienkewicz backed off from his 66-66 start with a final round of 3-over 74, but still ended up among a large group tied for 12^th place with a 7-under 206 total.

   Despite the strong showing by Thorbjornsen, Pac-12 power Stanford finished in 11^th place with a 10-under 842 total, dropping from eighth in the Golfstat rankings to No. 16.

   Stanford fifth-year player Nate Menon, the 2015 PIAA Class AA champion as a junior at Wyomissing, finished among the group tied for 54^th place with a 3-over 216 total. Menon added a 72 to his opening-round 74 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70.