Ducks Finish Third at Amer Ari Intercollegiate

Saturday, February 4

Waikoloa, Hawaii

All Day

University of Oregon

Amer Ari Invitational

02/04/17 | Men's Golf

Round Three Scorecard

By: Erin Kunesh

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii – The Oregon men's golf team finished third at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate on Saturday afternoon with a 26-under 838 (285-276-277).

Freshman Norman Xiong tied for seventh (74-64-68—206, -10), the highest finish for the Ducks. Senior Wyndham Clark followed, tying for ninth at 9-under (70-68-69—207).

Texas Tech claimed the team title with an impressive 44-under 820 (270-272-278). Five Pac-12 school finished as the tournament's leaders. USC finished eight strokes behind the Red Raiders for second with a score of 828 (273-268-287, -36). Arizona State (286-279-276) and Colorado (281-279-281) tied for fourth at 23-under 841 total and Stanford (278-282-283) finished sixth at a 21-under 843.

Rico Hoey (USC), Jared duToit (Arizona State) and Fredrik Nilehn (Texas Tech) shared the individual tournament crown all with a 16-under 200.

How it Happened: The start off the day, the Ducks were in fifth after yesterday's second round of 276. Through the first six holes, the Ducks were 1-under, as Clark and Xiong carded two birdies and were tied for 11^th at 7-under. After nine, the Ducks moved up to a tied for fourth with Stanford with steady performances from the entire lineup.

Colorado edged out Stanford on the finishing holes, while Xiong continued to hold strong in the top of the crowd at 10-under. Clark followed closely behind by one stroke, tying him for eighth.

In the final standings, Xiong had the highest Duck finish with a tie for seventh. In the second round, the Canyon Lake, Calif., native shot a 64, the lowest round for the Ducks throughout the tournament. He closed out the tournament with a 10-under 206 after a third round of 68. He met par 16 times and had an eagle on the 14^th hole during today's round.

Clark had the second highest finish for Oregon and tied for 10^thwith a final 9-under 207. The Denver, Colo., native's best round was a 68 on Friday. He closed out play today with a 69. In total, he met par 35 times and carded 13 birdies.

Redshirt sophomore Ryan Gronlund finished within the top 35, tying for 33^rd(69-74-70—213, -3). The Pleasanton, Calif., native was one stroke ahead of his best round of 69 on Thursday. Sophomore Edwin Yi closed out the tournament in a tie for 40^th and finished with a 2-under 214. He was even par 37 times. Sophomore Sam Foust rounded out the Oregon lineup and finished tied for 81^st at 6-over, 222. He followed up his low round of 72 with a 73 on the day.

As a team, the Ducks met par 171 times, had 60 birdies and carded two eagles.

Golfing as individuals, freshman Kevin Geniza finished tied for 20^th with a final 6-under 210 (67-73-70) and redshirt senior Nigel Lett tied for 22^nd with 211 (69-69-73, -5).

Final Team Standings:
1. Texas Tech, 270-272-278—820 (-44)
2. USC, 273-268-287—828 (-36)
3. Oregon, 285-276-277—838 (-26)
T4. Arizona State, 286-279-276—841 (-23)
T4. Colorado, 281-279-281—841 (-23)
6. Stanford, 278-282-283—843 (-21)
T7. Oklahoma State, 286-278-287—851 (-13)
T7. UCLA, 285-281-285—851 (-13)
T7. Georgia Tech, 288-278-285—851 (-13)
T7. Texas, 284-282-285—851 (-13)
11. TCU, 281-284-288—853 (-11)
12. St. Mary's (CA), 300-279-286—865 (+1)
13. Auburn, 290-292-286—868 (+4)
T14. San Jose State, 292-289-291—872 (+8)
T14. Oregon State, 292-284-296—872 (+8)
16. UC Davis, 295-287-293—875 (+11)
17. Hawaii, 294-290-298—882 (+18)
18. Osaka Gakuin University, 298-292-297—887 (+23)
19. Pacific, 298-295-295—888 (+24)
20. Chico State, 292-303-295—890 (+26)
21. Hawaii – Hilo, 304-300-302—906 (+42)

Oregon Lineup:
T7 Norman Xiong (FR.) 74-64-68—206 (-10)
T10 Wyndham Clark (RSR.) 70-68-69—207 (-9)
T33 Ryan Gronlund (RSO.) 69-74-70—213 (-3)
T40 Edwin Yi (SO.) 72-72-70—214 (-2)
T81 Sam Foust (SO.) 77-72-73—222 (+6)

T20 Ind. Kevin Geniza (FR.) 67-73-70—210 (-6)
T22 Ind. Nigel Lett (RSR.) 69-69-73—211 (-5)

Final Individual Leaders:
T1 Rico Hoey (USC) 67-63-70—200 (-16)
T1 Jared duToit (Arizona State) 64-70-66—200 (-16)
T1 Fredrik Nilehn (Texas Tech) 66-67-67—200 (-16)
4 Maverick McNealy (Stanford) 68-66-68—202 (-14)
T5 Jeremy Paul (Colorado) 70-69-66—205 (-11)
T5 Federico Zucchetti (Texas Tech) 66-69-70—205 (-11)

Quotes: Head coach Casey Martin –

"I'm very happy with today's round and our overall finish. We couldn't win the event, but we still closed it out with a solid low round today. Our guys competed until the end and did very well. I'm proud of them."

What it Means: Tying for 10th, Clark has never finished below 10^th place as a Duck. In his first two collegiate matches, Xiong has finished within the top seven in both – he finished fourth at Arizona Intercollegiate. With last week's team win for first at the Arizona Intercollegiate and Ducks stepping up, the momentum the Ducks carried from the 2016 NCAA championship seems to be flowing steadily.

Five Pac-12 school finished as the Amer Ari tournament's leaders – USC (2^nd), Oregon (3^rd), Arizona State (T4), Colorado (T4) and Stanford (6^th).

Eight of the tournament's top golfers hail from the Pac-12 – Rico Hoey (USC, T1), Jared duToit (Arizona State, T1), Maverick McNealy (Stanford, 4^th), Jeremy Paul (Colorado, T5), Norman Xiong (Oregon, T7), Ethan Freman (Colorado, T7), Viraat Badhwar (Stanford, T7) and Wyndham Clark (Oregon, T10).

Looking Ahead: From Friday, Feb. 17 through Sunday, Feb. 19, the Ducks will be in action at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Springs, Calif.

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