LA QUINTA, Calif. — Baylor men's golf used a 1-over 285, its best round of the week, to finish tied for 17^th on Wednesday at the Prestige at PGA West.
 
Drew Wrightson paced the Bears in the final round with a 3-under 68, his best round since the 2023 Big 12 Championship. His 1-over 214 earned him a tie for 43^rd, one shot behind Zach Heffernan, who led the Bears with an even-par 213 and a tie for 39^th. San Diego's Ryan Abuan took home individual medalist honors with an 11-under 202.
 
Baylor's 11-over 863 tied with Louisville and former Baylor assistant Ryan Blagg. San Diego ran away with the team title on the strength of a 29-under 823, 16 shots ahead of second-place Texas Tech.
 
THE RUNDOWN
Heffernan started his final round with a bang, eagling the par-5 12^th hole for a second time this week. The senior reached 3-under with another birdie at No. 16 but dropped a shot at the turn with a bogey at No. 18. Heffernan carded pars on each of the first six holes of his second nine but played his final three at 3-over with a double at No. 16 and a bogey at No. 17.
 
Wrightson opened with a bogey before quickly atoning with three birdies in his next four holes at Nos. 11, 12 and 14. A second bogey at No. 15 dropped him back to 1-under at the turn. The junior closed his week with a bogey-free inward half, dotted with a couple of birdies at Nos. 4 and 8 to shoot his first round in the 60s since the final round of the 2023 Morgan Hill Regional.
 
Ovard put together another solid day on Wednesday with an even-par 72, his first back-to-back rounds at par or better since the second and third rounds of the Big 12 Championship last April. A quick birdie at No. 11 got the sophomore off to a quick start before dropping a shot at No. 13. Two more birdies at Nos. 15 and 17, and a bogey at No. 18 saw him make the turn with a 1-under 35. Ovard pushed to 2-under with a birdie at No. 3 but fell back to even with a double-bogey at No. 7 to finish tied for 54^th.
 
Jonas Appel finished the day with a 3-over 74 and a tie for 86^th. A steady start with six-straight pars was interrupted by three-straight bogeys at Nos. 16-18 to turn with a 3-over 39. He bounced back with a birdie at No. 1 before a final bogey at No. 7 put him at 3-over for the day and 9-over for the championship.
 
Vincent Stjernfeldt had an up-and-down day, resulting in a 5-over 76. The freshman made four birdies, five bogeys and a pair of doubles on Wednesday en route to a tie for 97^th.
 
At the Prestige Individual Invite, Jackson Hymer led the Baylor contingent with a 6-over 222 to tie for 11th, two strokes in front of Corbin Null, whose final-round 71 earned him a tie for 13^th. Martin Kemp was two shots behind him in a tie for 17^th, while Aidan Gutierrez and Sam Dossey tied for 27^th. Patricio Gonzalez tied for 33^rd with a 21-over 237.
 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Baylor's 1-over 285 tied for the best score of the season
• The Bears had the fourth-best par-4 scoring average (4.02)
• This week marked the first time since the 2024 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional that the Bears had multiple players finish at Par or better
• BU was one of just five teams to have multiple eagles this week
• Baylor's 180 pars were the third-most in the field
• Zach Heffernan was one of just three players to make multiple eagles this week
• Jonas Appel tied for the second-most pars this week with 41

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mike McGraw on the Final Round — "It was a disappointing finish to what could have been a good round. We had two double bogeys and a bogey on our 16th hole. Actually, we were in good position all three rounds to score well. Just need to finish off rounds better."
 
STAT OF THE DAY
 
68 — Drew Wrightson carded his best round in nearly two years, as his last round in the 60s was in the second round of the 2023 Big 12 Championship
 
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will tee it up at the Cabo Collegiate in Los Cabos, Mexico, March 3-5. For more information on Baylor Men's Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on X, Instagram and Facebook.