Texas finishes off dominating victory at Southwestern Invitational
Texas Athletics photo
The Texas Longhorns grew up a bit this week at North Ranch Country Club.
Sparked by freshman
Jacob Sosa's opening round 61, the Longhorns finished off a wire-to-wire victory at the Southwestern Invitational outside of Los Angeles, carding a 14-under team score of 850 which was good for a 13-shot win over host Pepperdine.
While seniors
Travis Vick and
Brian Stark had a hard time finding their footing this week, Texas' three freshmen
Keaton Vo (2nd), Sosa (3rd) and
Christiaan Mass (t-5th) answered the call and led the Longhorns to their first team title since capturing last year's NCAA Championship in Scottsdale.
The 17th-ranked Horns paved their path to victory with an 18-under opening round of 270 and were never threatened over the next two days. Pepperdine carded the lowest round of the day on Wednesday with a 3-under 285 to move into solo second behind the Longhorns, followed by No. 2 Arizona (+4), Oregon (+8).
While three Texas players finished in the top five, it was Wake Forest's
Michael Brennan who came away with the individual title after firing a final round 69 to earn a one-stroke victory over Vo.
Teeing off two hours before Vo, Sosa and Arizona State's
Luke Potter, Brennan was at even par on his round through 14 holes, but reeled off three birdies over his final four holes, including one on 18, to take a clubhouse lead at 9-under.
Vo moved to 8-under after a birdie on 14, but could get no closer after finishing with four straight pars. Potter, got to 7-under after back-to-back birdies on 15 and 16 but a double bogey on 17 knocked him out of title contention.
Sosa had a hard time following his record-setting round of 61 from Monday and four bogeys and a double led to a second consecutive 2-over round of 74 and a third-place finish at 7-under 209. Maas also shot a 74 on Wednesday and dropped into a tie for fifth place at 4-under 212.
The win is Brennan's fifth individual title of his career and first since his victory at the
2021 Colonial Collegiate.
ABOUT THE
Southwestern Invitational
54-hole men's college tournament with team (best
four
scores of five players) and individual competitions.
The
Southwestern Invitational is the combination of two
previously existing
tournaments: the Southwestern Intercollegiate
(started by USC in 1978) and the Jones Invitational
(hosted by Pepperdine since
2014).
View Complete Tournament Information