Clemson sophomore Bryson Nimmer
(ACC Photo)
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (February 21, 2017) -- It's now two victories in a row for the 21st ranked Clemson Tigers. After taking the lead on Monday Clemson put the finishing touches on a 19-under week and a 11-stroke victory at their spring opening tournament, the Puerto Rico Classic.
As a team Clemson did most of its damage of the par-5s at Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa playing the holes in 18-under-par while rolling in a tournament best 63 birdied throughout 54-holes.
Clemson was led throughout the week by individual runner-up Bryson Nimmer. The sophomore completed the tournament at 9-under and one shot behind medalist winner Luke Schniederjans of Georgia Tech.
Nimmer led heading into the final round and paced the field for much of Tuesday before carding an unfortunate triple-bogey, his only blemish of the round, on the last hole that forced him to settle for a second place finish. Heading to the 18th Nimmer was 4-under for the round but he ended up signing for a 1-under 71.
Clemson, who has now won three-times this year, also received top-10 play from freshman Doc Redman (T5; -4) and senior Carson Young (T7; -3).
Behind Clemson came first round leading No. 10 Georgia (2nd; -8), Georgia Tech (T3; -5) and NC State (T3; -5) and Ohio State (5th; +1).
With some help but also with some strong final round play Luke Schniederjans was able to claim the second individual title of his career. The Yellow Jacket freshmen started on the fourth hole and promptly birdied the fifth, seventh and eighth holes to jump start his day.
A slip up did in occur with a ninth hole bogey but that did nothing to slow down Schniederjans. Following a par on the 10th Schniederjans got back on track with an 11th hole eagle and then 12th and 14th hole birdies. The birdie on No. 14 brought Schniederjans to 10-under and that is where he remained for the rest of the day.
“I got off to a really good start early,” said Schniederjans, who said he did not know where he stood until the round was over. “I had a bogey, but chipped in for eagle the right after, so it was a pretty mistake-free round. All the parts of my game were really solid. I didn’t really know where I stood until after we finished.”
Schniederjans is the younger brother of former Georgia Tech standout and now PGA professional Ollie Schniederjans.
-Clemson and Georgia Tech athletics provided information for this story
ROUND TWO RECAP
On the strength of Bryson Nimmer's 5-under 67 Clemson has moved in front and opened up a seven-stroke lead after two rounds at the Puerto Rico Classic.
With his second round 5-under 67 at Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa, Nimmer has moved to 8-under and taken the individual lead. Last years Puerto Rico Classic runner-up did most of his damage in the middle portions of the day with all six birdies coming between Nos. 5-15 while at one point from the 10th-12th hole the 2016 ACC Freshman of the Year birdied three in a row.
Nimmer, a sophomore, did give up a stroke with a 17th hole bogey but that was his only slip up of the round. On Wednesday Nimmer will be trying to close out the first individual title of his career.
During Clemson's 12-under second round three others besides Nimmer were under-par. Doc Redman and Austin Langdale turned in 3-under 69's while Carson Young posted a 1-under 71.
First round leader No. 10 Georgia is in second place at 9-under, Kentucky is in third at 5-under, in fourth place it is 1-under NC State and in fifth it is Georgia Tech; Middle Tennessee at 2-over.
Behind Nimmer in the medalist race in second place is Georgia's Jaime Lopez Rivarola (-5) while Georgia's Tye Waller (-3), Alabama's Steven Setterstrom (-3) and Kentucky's Tyler McDaniel (-3) are sharing third.
First round leader Stephen Franken of NC State fell into a tie for sixth at 3-under.
ROUND ONE RECAP
10th ranked Georgia got off to a good start at the Puerto Rico Classic and at 7-under they are the day one two-stroke leaders.
Playing at Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa the Bulldogs were led in the first round by Tye Waller's 4-under 68. The sophomore started his round on the 6th hole and did most of his work from Nos. 11-16 when he birdied five-times. After the 16th hole birdie Waller slid backwards a bit to 2-under with an 18th hole double-bogey and a 3rd hole bogey.
However, Waller had a rebound in store with birdies on his final two holes. Waller is coming off a strong fall that saw him pick up a career best eighth place finish at The Carmel Cup.
On Sunday Georgia also received under-par rounds from Jaime Lopez Rivarola (2-under 70) and Jack Larkin (1-under 71).
Heading into the second round the Bulldogs lead NC State (-5) by two-strokes while No. 21 Clemson (-4) is in third, Kentucky (-2) is in fourth and Ohio State (+1) is in fifth.
Leading the way in the individual race is NC State's Stephen Franken. Following a 5-under 67 Franken is a stroke in front of Waller and Georgia Tech's Luke Schniederjans. Three others; Joey Savoie (Middle Tennessee), Bryson Nimmer (Clemson) and Tyler McDaniel (Kentucky) are a shot further back at 3-under.
Franken, a sophomore, birdied six-times and bogeyed once during his first round. After teeing off on the 13th hole Franken rolled in his birdies late in the day on the third, fourth, eighth, ninth, 11th and 12th holes.