WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Led by a strong second round, the Washington State University men's golf team opened its 2014-15 season with a third place finish at the Southwestern Intercollegiate presented by James Kim. In the third and final round of play at the North Ranch Country Club, the Cougars carded a 295 (+11) to bring their three-round score to 873 (+21). WSU finished three strokes ahead of fourth-place San Diego State (+24, 876) and 10 strokes back from second-place, No. 25 USC (+12, 864). The No. 3 Stanford Cardinal (-4, 848) won the tournament, while Stanford's Maverick McNealy (-10, 203) took home the individual title.
“Overall, throughout the tournament, we played pretty well,” WSU Head Coach Garrett Clegg said. “Our guys battled and did a great job. Unfortunately we didn't finish strong. We were in it with USC and they held steady and we made some mistakes. We have to clean that up and get better at finishing those rounds. But overall it's a good start to the season.”
Senior Charlie Mroz led the Cougars, finishing tied for ninth in the 12-team field. Mroz's finish marks the first top-10 finish of his collegiate career. Mroz carded a 75 (+4) in the final round, finishing 3-over par (216) in the tournament. Redshirt senior Sang Lee carded six birdies in the final 18 holes to finish tied for 14th. Lee finished the tournament 5-over par (218). The finish is Lee's 10th top-25 finish of his career.
Freshman Derek Bayley and junior Evan Omelia each shot 5-over par (76) in the third round. Omelia (+8, 221) opened his WSU career with a top-25 finish, tying for 21st. Bayley finished tied for 33rd on the leaderboard with a three-round 223 (+10). Junior Bhurinat Songpaiboon led the team in the final round, saving par with three birdies. Songpaiboon (+15, 228) finished the tournament tied for 51st.
“Charlie did a great job and Sang finished high as well,” Clegg said. “They did a great job leading the team this week. Now we have to get ready for the Husky Invitiational.”
The Cougars return to action Sept. 22-23, traveling to Bremerton, Wash., for the Husky Invitational hosted by the University of Washington.
