Vanderbilt and Gordon Sargent roll to Mason Rudolph titles

Top-ranked Vanderbilt successfully defended its home turf by sweeping the team and individual titles of the Mason Rudolph Championship which wrapped up Wednesday in Franklin, Tenn.

It wasn't a fair fight.

In their last tournament before the postseason, the Commodores cruised to a 23-stroke victory over Tennessee while Gordon Sargent won his fifth career individual title with an eight-shot victory over Bryce Lewis of Tennessee.

The win is Vanderbilt's sixth of the season following triumphs at the Frederica Cup, East Lake Cup, John Hayt Invitational, Watersound Invitational and Cabo Collegiate, while Sargent finished at 17-under (66-64-66) 196 to notch his fifth career victory in just two seasons, setting a new school record.

Gordon Sargent

“Obviously, Gordon showed a ton of competitive character in how he played and responded to last week not going the way he had wanted,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “He was very focused and did an outstanding job committing to his shots and playing the next shot.”

Sargent also won the Mossy Oak Collegiate and NCAA individual championship as a freshman and the East Lake Cup and John Hayt Invitational earlier this season.

Three other Commodores - William Moll (t-3; -8), Reid Davenport (t-5; -7), playing as an individual, and Matthew Riedel (t-5; -7) - also notched top-10 finishes.

“Just so very proud of our guys,” Limbaugh said. ” They took a lot of pride in finishing the regular season the right way and then went and did it. I think that says a lot about the leadership and the care level of our team.”

The Commodores will aim for a third straight Southeastern Conference Championship starting April 19 on Saint Simons Island in Georgia.

Vanderbilt Athletic Communications contributed to this report