Brooks Rabren wins the Spirit of America Classic

DECATUR, AL (July 9, 2017) - On the 36-hole final day of the 50th Spirit of America Classic Brooks Rabren fired rounds of 68-67 to finish 7-under and as the three-stroke winner at Burningtree Country Club. Rabren, a sophomore at South Alabama, began the final day four-strokes off the pace before rallying to the come from behind victory. “It’s been a great week,” Rabren told the Decatur Daily. “I guess my expectations need to be a little higher in the future.” Early in the second round it looked as if Rabren had played himself out of the tournament, “I was 6 over after 21 holes,” Rabren said who opened with rounds of 72-70. “I just told myself it was early and I had a lot of holes left to make up for that bad start. That’s not how I used to handle adversity.” With four holes remaining in the final round a handful of golfers were still in the mix but Rabren pulled away down the stretch with birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 18. He became the first South Alabama player to win the Spirit of America since 1995 when Heath Slocum claimed the title. Mac Murphy (-4) took second place, Cody O'Toole (-3) and William Walker III (-3) shared third while James Medley (-2) placed fifth. In the team competition UAB Team 2 captured the title by three-strokes over Florida State. The UAB squad (148-140-137-144--569) was comprised of Scott Bryan and William Walker III. Editors Note: Decatur Daily contributed to this story