Florida State claims home title behind Pak's charge

February 21, 2021 | by Brayden Conover of AmateurGolf.com

- Florida State men's golf photo

The Seminoles hold off a pair of powerhouses while John Pak nearly pulls off an incredible comeback

The Seminoles played host to 14 schools over the weekend for the Seminole Intercollegiate at Golden Eagle Country Club in Tallahassee, Florida. Golfstat’s No. 1 team in the nation, Oklahoma, made some noise over the first two rounds, posting the low round of the day during Saturday’s second round with a 12-under 276. Cooling off with a 1-under 287, the Sooners were surpassed by their in-state rival Oklahoma State on Sunday. The Big 12 tandem took second and third with the Sooners at 12-under (852) and the Cowboys at 17-under 847. Driving the boat, the host Seminoles held control of the event from wire-to-wire. Led by world No. 4 John Pak, Florida State held a six-shot lead over Oklahoma and a seven-shot lead over Oklahoma State to begin the final round. Cruising to a final round of 9 under, and a tournament total of 26 under, Florida State had no plans of letting any other team leave with their trophy. “I think we’re the best team in the country,” Pak told AmateurGolf.com. “We’ve got maybe seven guys that could’ve easily won this event if they had a good week. I wouldn’t choose anyone else but these guys and my coaches to help me and FSU win a national championship.”

Nothing like a little @johnnydpak fist pump to celebrate a 🐦 pic.twitter.com/DiCT8TzOoe
— FSU Golf (@FSUGolf) February 22, 2021

Pak made a run at the medalist honors with a final round 5-under 67 but ran out of holes to track down Liberty University’s Alexandre Fuchs. Fuchs’ back to back 65s turned out to be just enough as his final round 3-over 75 gave him a one shot advantage over Pak at the end of the day with an 11-under, 205 total. His Flames teammates’ efforts helped Liberty claim fourth place, assuredly moving themselves up from the 21st spot in the Golfstat rankings. As for Pak, the senior was emotional as he came off the 18th green in his final appearance at his home event. “There were a lot of emotions coming down 18,” Pak said. “I won the event twice so it’s been very good to me. We [Florida State] always have so many fans and a lot of support out there. It’s my favorite event and I’m really going to miss the course and atmosphere.”

Results: Seminole Intercollegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Alexandre Fuchs	, France	600	65-65-75=205
2	John Pak	Scotch Plains, NJ	400	69-70-67=206
3	Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra	, Spain	300	68-72-68=208
T4	Patrick Welch	Aliso Viejo, CA	300	69-68-72=209
T4	Van Holmgren	Plymouth, MN	300	69-67-73=209