UAB edges Georgia at rain-shortened Jim Rivers

CHOUDRANT, La. (Oct. 16, 2018) – When poor weather settled in over Choudrant, La., on Tuesday, it meant the end of the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate. With the final round of the scheduled 54-hole event cancelled, Alabama-Birmingham took the title.

The Blazers had a two-shot lead on Georgia after a 36-hole day on Monday. They were 20 under after identical 18-hole rounds of 10-under 278 at Squire Creek.

The team title is UAB's first since winning the Shoal Creek Invitational on Sept. 26, 2015. UAB redshirt junior William Walker also won the individual title, his first individual title as a collegiate golfer. Walker was 9 under at Squire Creek after rounds of 67-68. That left him one shot ahead of Georgia’s Trent Phillips and two shots ahead of teammate John Hayden.

"I am really happy for our guys," said head coach Mike Wilson. "We knew today might get rained out and we were in a tight match with Georgia with three holes to play yesterday. Everyone on the team stepped up with a strong finish. It's nice to see three guys on our team notch career-best finishes as well. I am also extremely proud of William for getting his first individual title."

As for Georgia, this is the second time the Bulldogs have placed second this season after also coming in as runner-up at the season-opening Carmel Cup in California. As for Phillips, the freshman has finished second once and third twice this season. He also is 8-for-8 with rounds in the 60s and has a scoring average of 67.88.

The leaderboard dropped off considerably after the UAB-Georgia duel at the top. Cincinnati was third at 4 over and Lamar was fourth at 7 over. Abilene Christian finished fifth at 9 over.

Information from UAB Athletics used in this report