OU Finishes Third at Santa Clara Invitational

Oct. 23, 2007

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The University of Oklahoma men's golf team finished in third place Tuesday at the Santa Clara Invitational in San Jose, Calif. The Sooners carded a team score of 296 (+8) on the day to finish at 861 (-3) overall, just three shots off the pace of tournament champion Portland University.

Tournament host Santa Clara finished second at the 7,004-yard, par-72 Silver Creek Valley Country Club, one shot behind the champs.

The result was the third top-five finish for the Sooners this fall as OU's young squad finished no worse than sixth in any fall event.

"We put ourselves in a position to compete for the title, which is a promising start to the spring season," said head coach Jim Ragan. "At the same time, we aren't happy about the way we closed the tournament which should motivate the guys during the break."

OU sophomore Tyler Rody fired rounds of 71, 66 and 73, finishing the event in a career-best, third-place tie. The Andover, Kan., native has placed in the top-15 in his last two starts.

Fellow sophomore Eric Durbin placed fifth after a final-round 73. Durbin closes this portion of the 2007-08 slate with top-20 finishes in every fall event.

Standing in a tie for 21st at +4 were Jesse Schutte and Phillip Bryan. Schutte fired rounds of 72, 71 and 77 while Bryan carded scores of 74, 73 and 73.

Rounding out the Oklahoma team scoring was freshman Ryan Sirman who finished in a tie for 47th after a final-round 77. Freshman Liam Logan placed 39th competing unattached from team scoring after rounds of 76, 74 and 75. Logan tied for the second-best score among all individual competitors.

"We have shown glimpses of playing very good golf throughout the fall," said Ragan. "The next step is working on some consistency issues with the young squad, highlighting areas that they can improve on to make sure we are finishing tournaments where we are capable of."

Nick Delio of CSU-Northridge finished atop the individual standings after rounds of 69, 67 and 67. Delio finished six shots ahead of runner-up Tim Lynch of Santa Clara.

The Sooners return to the links Feb. 6, as they head to Waikoloa Village, Hawaii, for the UH-Hilo Intercollegiate.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

OU Finishes Third at Santa Clara Invitational

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