OU men in fifth, Tulsa last in Puerto Rico
After 18 holes of play, the No. 21 Oklahoma men’s golf team sits in fifth place and Tulsa is last in 15th in the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being played at the 6,092-yard, par-72 River Course at the Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa.
At 8 under par, No. 40 Georgia leads the stout field, which features nine teams ranked within the top 50 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin poll. No. 9 Alabama, who has won the event the past four years, comes in second with a 285 (-3). No. 29 Virginia Tech holds third place with a 287 (-1), while No. 31 Clemson is fourth at even par. The Sooners round out the top five, one stroke ahead of No. 5 Georgia Tech.
Grant Hirschman led OU with a first-round 69 (-3), good for a share of second place. The freshman pocketed four birdies (on holes No. 3, 4, 13 and 15) to just one bogey on the day. Hirschman trails individual leader Scott Vincent of Virginia Tech by two strokes.
Also sitting within the top 20 is senior Michael Gellerman, who holds a share of 18th place with an even-par 72. Gellerman erased two bogeys with two birdies on Sunday.
Senior Charlie Saxon is tied for 30th after shooting a 2-over 74. Saxon, who is playing in his second tournament of the year after missing the entire fall with an injury, recorded a team-high five birdies in the round.
With scores of 76 (+4), junior Luke Kwon and sophomore Max McGreevy are tied for 45th place. McGreevy, who started play from hole No. 3, closed the round with four straight birdies after struggling early.
Sixth-year OU head coach Ryan Hybl said he hopes to see his squad put together a complete performance over the last two rounds of the tournament.
"Grant played a really nice, stress-free round today, and Gellerman did a nice job as well," Hybl said. "We need all of our guys to put it together these last two days so we can compete at the level where we want to be."
The second round of the Puerto Rico Classic is slated to begin at 6 a.m. CT Monday with a shotgun start. Live stats will be available at BirdieFire.com.
Tulsa shot 304 even though senior Matt Mabrey sits in 11th place individually after turning in a 1-under par 71.
Fellow senior Colton Staggs finished the day at 1-over par with a score of 73. Matthew Marquez carded a round of 79 for 65th place, while Sebastian Smith is in 72nd place after a score of 81 and Francisco Yanez is in 74th place with a first-round 82.
Team Scores
1. Georgia 280
2. Alabama 285
3. Virginia Tech 287
4. Clemson 288
5. Oklahoma 291
6. Georgia Tech 292
T7. Minnesota 296
T7. Michigan 296
T7 Nebraska 296
T10. Purdue 298
T10. UNC-Greenville 298
12 East Tennessee St. 299
13. North Carolina 301
14. NC State 303
15. Tulsa 304
Top-5 Individuals
1. Scott Vincent, Virginia Tech 67 (-5)
T2. Nicholas Reach, Georgia 69 (-3)
T2. Sepp Straka, Georgia 69 (-3)
T2. Miller Capps, Clemson 69 (-3)
T2. Robby Shelton, Alabama 69 (-3)
T2. Grant Hirschman, Oklahoma 69 (-3)