Craig Ronne's final round 69 helped Oregon to the team title at the St. Mary's Invitational
It's not too often Stanford will relinquish a seven-stroke lead on the final day of a tournament and see a championship slip through its hands, but that's exactly what happened on Wednesday at the Saint Mary's Invitational which was held at Poppy Hills Golf Course in Pebble Beach.
The beneficiary of Stanford's fall was the Oregon Ducks, which shot a final-round 7-under 277 to make up seven strokes on the Cardinal and post a winning score of 18-under 834 to edge its Pac-12 rival by a single stroke.
Don't think for a minute the Ducks were gifted this tournament. Casey Martin's team shot 15-under over the last two rounds at Poppy Hills to rally from an 11-stoke deficit after opening with a 4-under round on Monday.
It's just the Ducks had a little help over the last few holes.
The Cardinal struggled mightily coming down the stretch, especially on the par-3, 179-yard 17th hole, where three of Stanford's four counting players made bogeys which, combined with Greyson Leach's birdie, enabled the Ducks to gain a share of the lead heading to the final hole.
Leach added another birdie on the par-5, 515-yard finishing hole, as did teammate Gregory Solhaug while the Cardinal could only manage one birdie from sophomore Karl Vilips, completing the comeback for the Ducks.
The win marks Oregon's first team title since 2018 and its first win at the Saint Mary's Invitational since 2011.
Oregon counted four subpar rounds by Solhaug (68), Craig Ronne (69), Owen Avrit (70) and Leach (70) for its 7-under closing round of 277. Solhaug ultimately tied for fifth at 4-under 209 while Ronne was in a pack tied for ninth at 2-under 211.
Quim Vidal Mora of Nevada Ouim Vidal Mora of Nevada won the individual title with an 11-under score of 202, good for a three-shot win over Mitchell Hoey of Saint Mary's, who was playing as an individual. Mora, a transfer from Jacksonville State, was tied for 21st after the first round, but carded rounds of 65 and 67 over the last two days to earn medalist honors.
The low team round of the day belonged to the USF Dons, who shot a 10-under 274 to finish in third place at 13-under 839, just six strokes off the lead. The Dons were paced by a 5-under 66 by Matthew Anderson and a pair of 67s by Toby Briggs and Christoffer Paulson.
ABOUT THE Saint Mary's Invitational
54-hole men's college tournament hosted by
St.
Mary's College (CA). Team (best four scores out
of five
players each round) and individual
competitions.
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