Courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics
It's hard to fathom a team shooting 59-under par and having to come from behind for a six-shot victory, but welcome to NCAA Division I golf, where school record books are being rewritten daily it seems.
It was the Oklahoma Sooners who sent their sports information department scrambling on Tuesday, winning the Puerto Rico Classic with a 59-under par score of 805.
One would think such a score would result in a runaway victory, but that wasn't the case at the Grand Reserve Golf Club, where the third-ranked Sooners came from four shots back on the final day to defeat 14th-ranked Georgia by six strokes.
The Sooners' 54-hole score of 805, powered by a program-record 80 birdies, was tied for the lowest score in program history and led to a school-record 59-under score vs. par, shattering the previous program-best score of 48-under by 11 strokes.
The win marks the Sooner's third of the season, following victories at the Maridoe Collegiate and East Lake Cup. 46th all-time and 32nd of the Ryan Hybl era, which began in 2009-10. The Sooners (805, -59) have posted a top-three finish in 26 of their last 27 regular-season events.
"Just a great week all around for us," said head coach Ryan Hybl said after the win. "We have been excited just to get back on the road and this group has great chemistry. We had some great rounds all week long and we knew we had to keep the pedal down today. There's nothing better than having the low final round and we'll keep building from there."
Oklahoma's
Chris Gotterup, the top-ranked collegian in the country by Golfweek/Sagarin, took medalist honors with a 20-under score of 196 on rounds of 66-64-66, which was good for a four-shot win over Georgia's
Maxwell Ford. His 20-under score vs. par is the second-lowest in OU history, trailing only Abe Ancer's -21 at the 2011 Desert Shootout.
The win was Gotterup's second of the season after sharing medalist honors at the East Lake Cup in October and comes with an exemption into the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Classic in early March.
"Chris played amazing all week just like he has been back home," Hybl added. "We're so proud of him for winning this week and securing the PGA Tour spot in two weeks down here on this course."
Patrick Welch, who shot a program-record 10-under 62 in the first round, tied for sixth at 14-under 202, marking the seventh top-10 finish of his career. Freshman
Drew Goodman posted the second top-10 finish of his young career, tying for ninth at 13-under 203 while senior
Logan McAllister carded a final round of 7-under 65 to claim a share of 16th place at 11-under 205.
Oklahoma Athletic Communications contributed to this report
ABOUT THE Puerto Rico Classic
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by
Purdue University. Team (best four scores out of five
players) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information