Jerry Hill Men's Golf
Jerry_hill@baylor.edu
 
 
LOS CABOS, Mexico – Closing with the fifth-best round of the day, Baylor men's golf shot even-par 284 in Tuesday's final round and moved up two spots to tie for 11^th in the Cabo Collegiate at 26-over-par 878.
 
Carding five birdies, including three on his last six holes, Drew Wrightson tied for the fourth-best round of the day at 3-under 68 and moved up 23 spots to tie for 33^rd with a 54-hole total of 6-over 219. Sophomore Davis Ovard was one of 10 players to record an eagle this week, making a three on the par-5, 571-yard 13^th hole.
 
Going into the final round at 13^th, the Bears passed top-ranked Ole Miss and tied Cal for 11^th at 26-over, just two shots out of the top 10 and seven behind seventh-place Stanford. Third-ranked Arizona State was the wire-to-wire winner, shooting 14-under 838 to beat No. 6 Oklahoma State by five shots.
 
ASU's Pongsapak Laopakdee, OSU's Preston Stout and Florida State's Tyler Weaver tied for medalist honors at 8-under-par 205.
 
 
THE RUNDOWN

Wrightson opened with one of his two bogeys on the day at the 17^th but shot 4-under on his last 17 holes with five birdies and one bogey in his 3-under-par round of 68. The redshirt junior carded birdies at Nos. 1 and 6 before a bogey at the eighth to make the turn at even par. He got to red numbers with birdies at Nos. 11, 13 and 16.
 
Jonas Appel shot his best round of the week, recording five birdies in an even-par 71 that left him tied for 27^th at 5-over 218. The junior got to 3-under for the day with birdies at Nos. 16, 17 and 2 before a stretch of five bogeys in seven holes and a birdie at the par-4 10^th.
 
Senior Zach Heffernan also had his best score of the tournament, shooting 1-over 72 with a birdie on his penultimate hole, the 13^th. He strung together 13 pars and tied for the tournament lead with 39 pars overall. After a couple bogeys, he birdied the par-3 8^th hole and tied for 44^th at 8-over 221.
 
Ovard had an up-and-down of 2-over 73, with two birdies, the eagle at No. 13, two bogeys and a pair of double bogeys. The sophomore had birdies at Nos. 2 and 16, sandwiched between bogeys at Nos. 3 and 7 and double bogeys at Nos. 10 and 15. He tied for 58^th at 13-over 226.
 
After a team-leading score of 1-over 72 on Monday, freshman Vincent Stjernfeldt struggled to a 6-over 77 to tie for 58^th with Ovard at 226. His round included birdies at Nos. 5, 7 and 14.
 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Davis Ovard was one of 10 players in the tournament that made an eagle this week, including six at the par-5, 571-yard 13^th hole.
• The Bears beat a top-ranked Ole Miss team, with the Rebels shooting the highest score of the day at 11-over 295 and finishing 13^th at 28-over 880.
• Only three players in the 80-player field shot a lower score than Drew Wrightson's 3-under-par 68.
• Baylor tied for fourth in pars with 166, including 51 in Tuesday's final round.
• Zach Heffernan tied for the most pars in the tournament with 39, including 13 on Tuesday.

 
STAT OF THE DAY
 
13 — Baylor's four scoring golfers shot 4-under on the par-5 13^th, including an eagle by Davis Ovard and birdies by Zach Heffernan and Drew Wrightson.
 
 
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Mike McGraw on Tuesday's final round - "I loved the way our guys hung in there all day. Making those late birdies was huge for our confidence and a step in the right direction."

 
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will head to Myrtle Beach, S.C., next for The Hackler on March 16-18.  
 
—BaylorBears.com—