Ducks Start Spring Strong

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii – Oregon capped off a strong opening week of the spring by shooting 6 under in the final round of the Amer Ari Invitational Saturday at the Waikoloa Kings' Course. The Ducks finished tied for fourth at 30 under against an elite field that included three top-10 teams and two others that were ranked.

Edwin Yi was in the hunt for the individual title until the end, and came in tied for second at 15 under, two shots behind collegiate No. 1 player Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State. Ryan Gronlund turned in a final round 3-under 69, highlighted by a clutch birdie on his 54th hole to get Oregon to 30 under.

How it Happened: After opening with a par, Yi made three consecutive birdies to take a one-shot lead through four holes at 17 under. He followed with eight straight pars before dropping a shot with a bogey at 16. Yi bounced back with back-to-back birdies at 17 and 18 and was just a shot off the lead heading into his final hole – the par-3 third hole – but made bogey to drop back to 3 under on the day.

Gronlund got off to a rocky start, bogeying his first two holes to drop to 3 under for the tournament. He recovered nicely throughout the second half of his round, making birdies at holes 14 and 15 to get back to even on the day. The senior birdied three of his last six holes to finish 7 under for the tournament and tied for 12th.

Sam Foust began his day tied for fourth and birdied the par-4 fifth hole to start his day and get to 12 under. He played an even keel round the rest of the way, making a bogey at 12 and a birdie at 14 to finish 12 under and tied for sixth.

Donald Kay capped off a steady week of play with a 1-over 73 while Kevin Geniza shot a 2-over 74 to finish tied for 58th, playing as an individual.

Competing with the best: The Ducks finished tied with No. 6 USC at 30 under, and ahead of No. 2 Georgia Tech and perennial powerhouses Stanford and Texas Tech. They finished behind only event champion and top-ranked Oklahoma State, No. 12 Texas and No. 13 Auburn. Yi came in runner-up to the No. player Wolff, and finished ahead of a number of top-10 players, including Viktor Hovland of Oklahoma State and USC's Justin Suh.

Quotable: Head coach Casey Martin
"We had a good event. The seniors played great and it was so satisfying to see Sam break through with an awesome performance. Edwin played amazing and showed that he is one of the best players in the conference."

Notable: Foust's tied for sixth result was his first career top-10 finish … Yi matched his best career finish by coming in tied for second, the other coming at the 2017 Bandon Dunes Championship … Oregon has now finished in the top five of the Amer Ari Invitational four of the last five years.

Ducks on the Leaderboard:
T4. Oregon – 271-281-282 -- 834 (-30)
T2. Edwin Yi – 67-65-69 – 201 (-15)
T6. Sam Foust – 66-67-71 -- 204 (-12)
T12. Ryan Gronlund – 65-75-69 -- 209 (-7)
T58. Kevin Geniza – 75-69-74 – 218 (E)*
T72. Donald Kay – 73-74-73 -- 220 (+4)
T103. Craig Ronne – 79-79-79 -- 237 (+21)
*Competed as an individual

Up Next: The Ducks are back in action Feb. 18-20 at The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.