Norman Xiong erased a two-shot deficit in the final round
(University of Oregon photo)
NORTH PLAINS, OR (October 3, 2017) -
Norman Xiong of the University of Oregon, a member of the victorious United States Walker Cup Team, shot 13-under to beat a strong field at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
The field included seven top-25 ranked college teams, and six Walker Cuppers.
Xiong shot rounds of 65-68-67 on the par-71 Witch Hollow Course at Pumpkin Ridge. He started the final round two shots behind leader
Brandon Wu of Stanford, but got off to a quick start. Playing the back nine first, he birdied holes 11-13 on the way to a four-under 31 and passing Wu.
After Wu pulled back into a tie by making birdie on the 7th (his 16th hole of the day as he too started on the back nine), Xiong, playing in the wave behind, followed with a birdie on the 6th to regain the lead. Wu parred in to post 12 under, and Xiong was able to par the last three for the one-shot win at 13-under 200.
It was the third collegiate win for Xiong, tying him for third all-time in University of Oregon history.
Justin Suh of Southern Cal shot the round of the tournament, an 8-under 63, to get to 12 under and fall just one shot short of Xiong. Suh came into the tournament with the momentum of
winning last week's Trinity Forest Invitational in Dallas, TX.
Will Gordon of Vanderbilt was the only other player to reach double-digits under par, closing with a 30 on the back nine for a 66 and an 11-under 202 total.
U.S. Amateur champion and Walker Cupper
Doc Redman of Clemson finished tied for fifth at 9-under 204. Among other Walker Cuppers,
Will Zalatoris (-5) of Wake Forest finished T14,
Doug Ghim (-4) of Texas was T18,
Paul McBride (-2) of Wake Forest was T23, and
Scottie Scheffler (-1) of Texas was T27.
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The Oklahoma Sooners (OU photo) |
In the team competition, the University of Oklahoma won their first tournament since
capturing the NCAA Championship last spring, shooting a final-round 276 (-8) to overtake second-round leaders Stanford. The Sooners finished 27 under for the tournament with an 825 total, three shots ahead of Stanford, who closed with a 281 (-3).
Brad Dalke and
Blaine Hale were the low scorers for Oklahoma, both finishing seventh at 8-under 205.
Riley Casey was T14 at 5-under,
Garett Reband was T23 at 2-under, and
Grant Hirschman was T46 at 3-over. In the final round, Hale (67), Dalke (68) and Reband (69) had sub-70 rounds for the Sooners.
Stanford was solo second, with Vanderbilt, Clemson and Florida rounding out the top five.
ROUND TWO RECAP
A big day two moved Stanford into the lead at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invite. Uncharacteristically unranked, Stanford put together an 11-under day and at 21-under they will carry a slim two shot lead into the final round at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
Stanford took over the lead on Monday thanks in large part to the play of Brandon Wu who fired a 5-under 66 to reach 11-under and the individual lead. 6-under to start the round the All-Pac 12 second teamer from a year ago started slowly with an even-par front side before catching fire on the way to the house. Followings pars on Nos. 10 and 11 Wu birdied the 12th, birdied three-in-a-row from Nos. 14-16 and then carded another bird on the 18th hole as he played the last seven holes in 5-under.
Stanford also received under-par rounds from Isaiah Salinda (5th; -7), Jeffrey Swegle (T18; -3) and Ashwin Arasu (T31; E) all whom carded 2-under 69's in the second round.
Behind Stanford in the team standings comes first round leader No. T7 Oklahoma (-19) in second place, No. 17 Duke (-13) and No. 5 Florida (-13) are tie for third at 13-under while defending champion No. 12 Vanderbilt (-11) lays claim to the fifth spot.
In the individual race Norman Xiong (Oregon) is in second place at 9-under, Carl Yuan (Washington) and Adam Wood (Duke) are sharing third at 8-under with Salinda in fifth.
Other notables include Doc Redman (Clemson) tied for sixth at 6-under; Brad Dalke (Oklahoma), Will Zalatoris (Wake Forest), Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt) at 5-under in a tie for ninth; first round individual leader Blaine Hale (Oklahoma) has fallen into a tie for 13th at 4-under along with Jusin Suh (USC); Scottie Scheffler (Texas) and Doug Ghim (Texas) are part of the group even-par tied for 31st.
ROUND ONE RECAP
The Nike Golf Collegiate Invite field includes seven top-25 teams and five Team USA Walker Cup team members and after day one it is Oklahoma leading the way.
Behind the play of medalist leader Blaine Hale the defending national champions are 12-under and ahead by two-strokes at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
Hale, a junior, started his day with consecutive birdies and after his lone birdie of the day on No. 3 he played flawless golf the rest of the way. A PING Honorable Mention All-American last year, Hale carded additional birdies on Nos. 4, 6, 11, 12, 15 and 16.
Oklahoma, the No. T7 team in the nation, also received top-20 play on Sunday from Brad Dalke (T13; -3) and Riley Casey (T18; -2).
Behind Oklahoma in the team standings comes Stanford (-10) in second place, defending champion No. 12 Vanderbilt (-8) is third, No. 23 USC (-7) is fourth while No. 5 Florida (-6) and No. 17 Duke (-6) are tied for fifth.
In the individual standings Hale holds a slim one-stroke lead as Brandon Wu (Stanford) and Norman Xiong (Oregon) are tied for second at 6-under while Cameron Young (Wake Forest), Isaiah Salinda (Stanford) and Adam Wood (Duke) share fourth at 5-under.
Other notables include Justin Suh (USC), Theo Humphrey (Vanderbilt) and Doc Redman (Clemson) at 4-under in a tie for seventh; Will Zalatoris (Wake Forest) is part of a tie for 13th at 3-under; Scottie Scheffler (Texas) is tied for 18th at 2-under; Doug Ghim (Texas) is sharing 36th at 1-over.