Feb. 21, 2012
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico – Anders Albertson fired a 5-under-par 67 Tuesday, pacing 5th-ranked Georgia Tech to a 6-under-par total of 282 and rallying the Yellow Jackets to a fourth-place finish at the Puerto Rico Classic.
Tech, which began the day tied for seventh place, started fast on the backs of Albertson and Yellow Jacket All-American James White. Albertson, a freshman from Woodstock, Ga., birdied six holes in his first 14, while White played his first 14 holes in 3-under-par and finished with a 72.
Albertson sustained a double-bogey on his 15th hole but finished with a birdie to match his low round of the year. Bo Andrews rallied from a pair of disappointing scores the first two days to shoot 71, while Richard Werenski added a 72 for the Yellow Jackets.
“The guys played well today,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “We were a couple of holes away from a really great score. But in the end, we beat some very good teams and hopefully gained some momentum for our next event.”
Eighth-ranked Alabama continued its assault on the 6,902-yard Westin Rio Mar Resort River Course, posting a 9-under-par 279 to finish the tournament at 30-under-par 834. The Crimson Tide posted the best team score each day of the event and won by 18 shots over 13th-ranked Clemson (12-under 852). Host Purdue finished third at 8-under 856, while Tech completed 54 holes at 3-under 861.
NC State (-1) was fifth, followed by Texas, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma, all at 3-over. Seven of the 15 teams in the tournament are ranked among the nation’s top 50. Tech finished ahead of four of them, including the top-ranked Longhorns.
White, the Tech All-American who led the individual race after 36 holes and held his lead through the front nine Tuesday, slipped on the final four holes and wound up in third place. The senior from Acworth, Ga., shot made a pair of double bogeys coming home and completed 54 holes at 8-under-par 208. It was his third straight top-5 finish.
Tech returns to action Mar. 9-11 at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Fla.
PUERTO RICO CLASSICWestin Rio Mar Resort - River CourseFinal Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Alabama 276 279 279 834 -30 2 Clemson 283 286 283 852 -12 3 Purdue 289 279 288 856 -8 4 Georgia Tech 290 289 282 861 -3 5 North Carolina State 292 292 279 863 -1 T6 Texas 288 292 287 867 +3 T6 Virginia Tech 288 287 292 867 +3 T6 Oklahoma 284 294 289 867 +3 9 Georgia 289 288 292 869 +5 10 Oklahoma State 294 285 292 871 +7 11 Ohio State 303 289 295 887 +23 12 UNCG 296 306 304 906 +42 T13 North Carolina 302 308 305 915 +51 T13 Michigan 306 309 300 915 +51 15 East Tennessee State 306 316 302 924 +60
PLAYER LEADERBOARD 1 Justin Thomas Alabama 67 71 68 206 -10 2 Talor Gooch Oklahoma State 72 69 66 207 -9 3 James White Georgia Tech 70 66 72 208 -8 T4 Bobby Wyatt Alabama 70 68 73 211 -5 T4 Trevor Cone Virginia Tech 70 71 70 211 -5 6 Thomas Bradshaw Clemson 69 75 68 212 -4 T7 Trey Mullinax Alabama 70 73 70 213 -3 T7 Billy Kennerly Clemson 72 71 70 213 -3 T7 William Sjaichudin Purdue 73 68 72 213 -3 T7 Tyler Duncan Purdue 73 66 74 213 -3 T7 Hunter Hamrick Alabama 76 67 70 213 -3
GEORGIA TECH SCORES 3 James White (1) 70 66 72 208 T23 Anders Albertson (2) 75 75 67 217 T31 Richy Werenski (4) 73 74 72 219 T37 Ollie Schniederjans (5) 72 74 75 221 T46 Bo Andrews (3) 77 77 71 225
