New faces produce familiar results for top-ranked Vanderbilt at The Hayt

Vanderbilt's tremendous depth was on full display these last two days at Sawgrass Country Club as the top-ranked Commodores eased into the spring season with a 16-shot win Monday at the John Hayt Invitational.

With mainstays William Moll and Reid Davenport playing as individuals, Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh inserted former four-time AJGA All-American Jackson Van Paris and highly-touted freshman Wells Williams into a lineup that led the Dores to their third team title of the season and ninth since the start of the 2022 spring season.

“What an awesome effort this week by our team,” said Limbaugh. “They had a mindset of coming out today and finishing the right way and having the low round and we did that. It’s not easy to do something that everyone else thinks may be easy and it requires having the right focus on the right things. We had all five guys in it all week and to have four guys finish in the top eight is pretty cool.”

The Commodores did have a familiar name atop the leaderboard, as reigning NCAA men's champion Gordon Sargent cruised to an eight-shot victory over North Florida's Nick Gabrelcik.

After opening with a 2-under round of 70 on Sunday, Sargent, who will play in the upcoming Masters on a special invitation, grabbed control of the tournament with a record-tying 64 in his second round and finished off the win by closing with a 5-under 67 for a 15-under total of 201.

“Gordon is playing awesome golf and I am so proud of how he finished that round today,” Limbaugh said. “He has such high demands for himself and that really helps set a standard for everyone.”

Vanderbilt senior Matthew Riedel tied for fourth at 5-under 211 while Van Paris acquitted himself very well in his first appearance of the season, tying for sixth at 4-under 212 after rounds of 69-71-72. Davenport, who began the day three back of Sargent, tied for eighth at 3-under 216 after struggling to a final round 76.

Williams just missed a top-10 finish in his collegiate debut, tying for 11th at 2-under 214, with among others, Mateo Fernandez de Oliviera of Arkansas, who recently won the Latin America Amateur Championship and will join Sargent in Augusta.

Vanderbilt Athletic Communications contributed to this report