Courtesy of Oklahoma Athletics
The Oklahoma Sooners closed out the regular season on a high note, winning the Thunderbird Collegiate held at Papago Golf Club (par 71/7,317 yards) in Phoenix on Sunday.
The Sooners, ranked third nationally by Golfweek/Sagarin, carried over the momentum from a strong second round to card a final-round score of 14-under 270 to overtake host Arizona State for the team title.
At 17-under, Oklahoma trailed Arizona State by just two shots heading into Saturday's final round, but rode hot rounds by
Chris Gotterup (65),
Logan McAllister (68),
Patrick Welch (68) and Steven Campbell, Jr. (69) to its fifth team title of the season, which ties a school record.
The Sooners finished at 31-under par, which was good for a five-stroke win over the fifth-ranked Sun Devils while No. 9 Texas Tech finished third at 22-under 830, followed by No. 2 Oklahoma State (-16) and No. 7 North Carolina (-12).
"Just a great team win," said Oklahoma head coach Ryan Hybl. "Everyone pitched in this week and we felt good as an entire squad all week long. It's very difficult to come to someone else's home course and beat them. We're fortunate to have been able to get the job done against some really good teams."
In addition to their win at the Thunderbird, Oklahoma also claimed team titles at the Maridoe Collegiate and East Lake Cup in the fall, followed by wins in Puerto Rico and the Southern Highlands Collegiate. Although the five wins only ties the 2018 and 2021 teams, the 2022 squad reached five victories in just eight countable events, four and five fewer than its co-record holders.
Arizona State's
James Leow, playing as an individual, claimed medalist honors at 14-under 199 after firing rounds of 67-66-66 at Papago. Leow was one back of teammate
Josele Ballester when play began on Saturday, but a second consecutive 5-under round of 66 lifted the senior from Singapore to his first collegiate title.
UNLV's
Caden Fioroni made the biggest move of the day, firing an 8-under 63 to jump into a tie for second place with New Mexico's
Bastien Amat at 12-under 201. Fioroni registered six birdies and an eagle for his 63, which was the lowest round of the tournament. Gotterup's final round 65 earned the Haskins Award candidate a share of third place with Ballester at 11-under 202.
Oklahoma will have a week to prepare for the Big 12 Championships, which get underway on Monday, April 25 at Whispering Pines Golf Club in Trinity, Texas. In addition to the Sooners, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Texas and No. 9 Texas Tech, as well as five other top-80 teams in the country, will be on hand at Whispering Pines.
Oklahoma Athletic Communications contributed to this report.
ABOUT THE ASU Thunderbird Invite
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by
Arizona State University. Team (best four scores out
of
five players each round) and individual competitions.
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