Northwestern thrives in gale to win The Clerico at Oaks Country Club

Final results:

By Ken MacLeod

Northwestern hails from The Windy City, so the Wildcats must have felt right at home in the 30-40 mph winds buffeting The Oaks Country Club Monday and particularly Tuesday.

Coach David Inglis, after all, is a native Scot who was bringing his team to Tulsa for the first time since he was a three-time All American for Bill Brogden’s University of Tulsa teams from 2000-2004. He’s played and coached in the wind for decades.

So the remarkable round of 1-under that his 30^th-ranked team carved out Tuesday to overtake host Oral Roberts and win The Clerico was perhaps not that surprising but still hugely impressive.

Cameron Adam’s even-par 70 put him atop the individual leaderboard at 3-under, a three-shot advantage over Luke Sample of Duke. It was Adam’s first collegiate victory and came in the fall of his senior year. Teammate Daniel Svard, a 6-6 junior who is the two-time defending Big 10 champion, opened with five birdies in his first seven holes and finished with a 5-under 65, a truly astonishing round in those conditions, and surged into third place.

Oral Roberts, which led the field through 36 holes, fell back with a final round of 16 over to finish at 20-overall, but still a runner-up position in its home event against a field that has rapidly grown in prestige and quality of field in its three years. And it will take another leap in 2025 when it moves to Southern Hills Country Club and even more elite teams compete, including an early commitment from Alan Bratton for his Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The tournament is the brainchild of sponsor and ORU booster John Clerico, whose financial backing provides ORU the means to make the tournament a first-class event that this year drew Northwestern, Duke, Baylor and Missouri from Power Five conferences as well as a wealth of regional Division I schools.

“John Clerico just wants Tulsa to have an elite college event and we are on our way,” said ORU coach Lance Watson. “It was very good this year and will be even better next year.”

The teams all went out of their way to thank Clerico and wife Cheryl following the final round.

For Oral Roberts, freshman Sam Morris of Tulsa put together the best round in the high winds, shooting 2-over 72. Gustav Liljeberg  and Presten Richardson, who were both in contention for the individual title after 36 holes, shot 75 and 77 respectively and dropped into a tie for fifth. Kevin An shot 73 and rose to a tie for 17^th and Christian Johnson shot 76 and finished 38^th.

“It was great to get the win,” Inglis said. “We were in a position today where there was only one option and that was to go out and play a great round. ORU played really well yesterday.

“It’s a great event to play. We’re going to come back next year for Southern Hills. With my history here and getting to spend the weekend with Coach Brogden and some former teammates, it just makes a ton of sense. And we got a true Oklahoma weekend with this wind. I’m remembering why I hit it so low in college.”

Of Svard’s 65, Inglis said he “showed what he is made of today. He’s 6-6 and has 185 ball speed and really moves it. When he’s on, he’s really, really good. He needs to be a bit better on days when he’s not on, but his best is pretty special.”

Among other players with Oklahoma ties in the event, Dylan Teter of Bixby finished tied for 11th for UTEP, for whom he has already won twice this fall. Mesa Falleur of Muskogee tied for 14th for New Mexico. Mason Haley of Enid starting as a freshman at UMKC tied with Morris for 23rd at 10 over.