Staggs finishes fifth, leads TU to sixth in Jack Nicklaus Invitational
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The University of Tulsa men’s golf team ended the Jack Nicklaus Invitational tied for 6th place after a 297 final-round performance on Monday. Their 882 three-round total tied the Golden Hurricane with the team from GRU Augusta.
Host Ohio State took home the team title with a 859 total after all five golfers finished in the top-25 for the invitational. Purdue finished second with a 871. Troy carded 873 for 3rd place, Kent State came into the clubhouse at 874 in 4th and East Tennessee State was right behind and rounded out the top five with 875.
Senior Colton Staggs finished in 5th place, marking his second consecutive top-five finish after he won the Windon Memorial Classic last week. Staggs carded a 1-under par score of 70 in the final round of action to secure his spot. He sank birdies on 13, 16 and 6 and 4 finished with a 54-hole total of 214.
Fellow senior Matt Mabrey shot a even-par 71 Monday to lock-in his spot among the top-10 finishers. His 215 score, just one stroke behind teammate Staggs, tied him for 6th place overall. Mabrey’s performane marks his eighth career top-10 finish.
Sophomore Sebastian Smith finished the invitational with a total score of 227 and a share of 42nd place. Fellow sophomores Matthew Marquez finished at 231 and Francisco Yanez carded 235 for the tournament.
Matt Green out of Kansas State shot 70 on Monday to clinch medalist honors, finishing with a score of 210. Chase Johnson (Kent State) took home second with 212 and Tee-k Kelly (Ohio State) and Clark Engle (Ohio State) finished just in front of Staggs at 213, tied for third place.
Up next for the Hurricane is a trip to Durham, N.C. to take on the field at the annual Rod Myers Invitational, Oct. 11-12.
Team Scores
1. Ohio State 283-291-285=859
2. Purdue 288-292-291=871
3. Troy 302-283-288=873
4. Kent State 295-290-289=874
5. ETSU 294-288-293=875
T6. Tulsa 286-299-297=882
T6. GRU Augusta 296-287-299=882
8. Miami (Ohio) 298-296-295=889
9. Kansas State 298-304-289=891
10. MTSU 304-295-303=902
11. Pepperdine 295-202-305=903
12. Northern Illinois 305-300-303=908
Tulsa Individuals
5. Colton Staggs 70-74-70=214
T6. Matt Mabrey 72-72-71=215
T42. Sebastian Smith 72-74-81=227
T52. Matthew Marquez 72-81-78=231
T59. Frank Yanez 78-79-78=235
Top-5 Individuals
1. Matt Green, Kansas State 67-73-70=210 (-3)
2. Chase Johnson, Kent State 72-70-70=212 (-1)
T3. Clark Engle, Ohio State 73-73-67=213 (E)
T3. Tee-k Kelly, Ohio State 70-71-72=213 (E)
5. Colton Staggs, Tulsa 70-74-70=214 (+1)