March 2, 2008
– Taylor Hall fired a 4-under-par 68 and Cameron Tringale added a 2-under 70 Sunday, but sixth-ranked Georgia Tech was unable to make up any ground in the team race and finished seventh at the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, P.R.
Hall, a junior from LaGrange, Ga., posted his second straight subpar round after an opening 83 and rose to a tie for 40th in the individual standings at 5-over-par 222. Tringale, a junior from Laguna Niguel, Calif., tied for 17th place, his second straight top 20 finish of the spring, at 1-over 217.
Chesson Hadley, the first round leader with a 65, finished 72-74 and fell into a tie for sixth place at 4-under 212, eight shots off the pace of Alabama’s Matthew Swan (12-under 204). Still, it was Hadley’s eighth consecutive top-10 finish in a team stroke-play event.
David Dragoo also counted for Tech with a 75 Sunday, while Paul Haley struggled to an 89.
Second-ranked Alabama, tied for the team lead after 18 holes, got progressively stronger each day, finishing with an 8-under-par 280 Sunday to edge No. 4 Oklahoma State by three shots. The Crimson Tide, who had three players break 70 in Sunday, finished at 10-under 854, while the Cowboys finished at 7-under 857.
Top-ranked Georgia finished third at 3 under par, Duke fourth at 1 under. East Tennessee State was fifth and Michigan sixth, while the Yellow Jackets ended up at 7-over-par, 17 shots off the lead.
Tech turns around quickly this week to play in the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nev., beginning Friday.
PUERTO RICO CLASSICRio Grande, P.R., Westin Rio Mar Resort (River Course)Final Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Alabama 289 285 280 854 -10 2 Oklahoma State 284 292 281 857 -7 3 Georgia 294 286 281 861 -3 4 Duke 292 285 286 863 -1 5 East Tennessee St. 289 292 286 867 +3 6 Michigan 291 287 292 870 +6 7 Georgia Tech 296 288 287 871 +7 8 Clemson 284 302 289 875 +11 9 NC State 296 298 282 876 +12 10 Virginia Tech 293 294 291 878 +14 11 Texas 299 291 291 881 +17 12 Northwestern 290 297 297 884 +20 13 Kent State 294 296 296 886 +22 14 Minnesota 300 307 297 904 +40 15 Purdue 308 300 303 911 +47
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Matthew Swan, Alabama 66 71 67 204 -12 2 Rickie Fowler, Okla. St. 69 75 65 209 -7 3 Charlie Holland, Texas 72 68 70 210 -6 4 Gareth Shaw, ETSU 70 69 72 211 -5 Darren Blair, NC State 70 72 69 211 -5 6 Chesson Hadley, Ga. Tech 66 72 74 212 -4 Hudson Swafford, Georgia 71 71 70 212 -4 David Markle, Kent State 71 71 70 212 -4 Russell Henley, Georgia 73 72 67 212 -4 10 Michael Thompson, Alabama 74 72 67 213 -3 Matt Hill, NC State 73 72 68 213 -3 Lion Kim, Michigan 76 68 69 213 -3
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T 6 Chesson Hadley 66 72 74 212 T17 Cameron Tringale 74 73 70 217 T40 Taylor Hall 83 71 68 222 T51 David Dragoo 76 74 75 225 T78 Paul Haley 80 72 89 241
