Chartier cruises to 95th New Year's Invitational title

Remi Chartier went wire-to-wire at St. Petersburg (Fla.) Country Club, closing with a 71 for a three-shot win at the 95th New Year's Invitational. Chartier, a redshirt freshman and a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, took the lead with an opening round 5-under 67 and never gave it up after that. A second-round 75 in tough conditions still put him up by one at the halfway point, and a 69 gave him some breathing room going into the final round. Matthew Ruel (Oldsmar, Fla.), a senior at Gonzaga University, shot a 70 to finish second at 3 under par, three shots behind Chartier. The defending champion Nicholas Gabrelcik of Trinity, Fla., and the University of North Florida, finished third and had the unique accomplishment of posting four straight rounds of even-par 72. Vanderbilt freshman Jansen Preston (Lexington, Ky.) was fourth at 2 over, while Toby Ragland was fifth at 4 over and earned the low mid-amateur honor. On Saturday, Mike Barkley won the 54-hole senior title, edging Brigham Gibbs by one shot.