Feb. 23, 2010
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico –
John-Tyler Griffin shot a 2-under-par 70 Tuesday to lead Georgia Tech for the second straight day and tie for fourth individually, and the 10th-ranked Yellow Jackets posted a 2-over-par score of 290 as a team to finish fifth at the Puerto Rico Classic.
James White carded a second straight 71 in the final round, Kyle Scott shot a 73 and Paul Haley added a 76 for the Yellow Jackets, who held position but were unable to gain ground on the leaders, finishing the tournament at 9-under-par 855 for 54 holes.
Texas, the nation’s third-ranked team, continued its assault on the 6,902-yard, par 72 Rio Mar Resort River Course by getting four subpar rounds and firing a 12-under 276 in the last round. The Longhorns finished at 42-under-par 822, six shots better than top-ranked Oklahoma State, who shot 274 Tuesday with four under-par scores and had a tournament total of 828 (36-under-par).
Clemson held position in third place at 21-under-par 843, followed by Northwestern at 11-under 853. Tech came next, a shot ahead of Purdue and Georgia (each at 856).
“We had three pretty good rounds today,” said head coach Bruce Heppler. “Kyle played better down here, and it was another good tournament for J.T. and James. They continue to play very well for us. It’s hard to beat teams like Oklahoma State and Texas with the scores they put up here. Las Vegas (Tech’s next outing in two weeks) will be an NCAA-type of test for us with the difficulty of the golf course and the caliber of competition there, so we’ll get back to work and get prepared for that.”
Griffin, a junior from Wilson, N.C., logged his fifth top-10 finish in six outings this year with an 11-under-par tournament total of 205, tying for fourth place, six shots behind the Cowboys’ Kevin Tway (17-under-par 199). Texas’ Cody Gribble was three shots back at 14-under 202, followed by Georgia’s Harris English at 12-under 204. Gribble shot a 70 Tuesday, while English shot 71.
White’s 71 was his sixth subpar round in six on the River Course, and he tied for 15th place individually at 5-under-par 211, his fourth top-20 showing in five tournaments for the Yellow Jackets this year. Scott tied for 43rd at 3-over 219, and Haley tied for 47th at 4-over 220.
PUERTO RICO CLASSICRio Mar Resort, River Course, Rio Grande, P.R.Final Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Texas 277 269 276 822 -42 2 Oklahoma State 275 279 274 828 -36 3 Clemson University 281 278 284 843 -21 4 Northwestern 290 278 285 853 -11 5 Georgia Tech 285 280 290 855 -9 6 Purdue University 286 282 288 856 -8 Georgia, U. of 286 278 292 856 -8 8 East Tennessee St. 284 287 288 859 -5 9 Kent State 286 281 299 866 +2 10 Oklahoma 292 293 284 869 +5 11 Alabama, U. of 288 296 286 870 +6 12 Virginia Tech 290 300 282 872 +8 13 Michigan, U. of 293 288 295 876 +12 Ohio State Univ. 291 289 296 876 +12 15 UNC Greensboro 294 298 289 881 +17
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 Kevin Tway Okla. St. 65 68 66 199 -17 2 Cody Gribble Texas 67 65 70 202 -14 3 Harris English Georgia 69 64 71 204 -12 4 John-Tyler Griffin Ga. Tech 70 65 70 205 -11 Dylan Frittelli Texas 69 69 67 205 -11 6 Colin Chapman UNCG 69 69 69 207 -9 7 Ben Martin Clemson 70 68 70 208 -8 Bobby Hudson Texas 70 67 71 208 -8 Tyler Duncan Purdue 69 71 68 208 -8 Luke Hopkins Clemson 69 70 69 208 -8
GEORGIA TECH SCORES T4 John-Tyler Griffin 70 65 70 205 T15 James White 69 71 71 211 T43 Kyle Scott 76 70 73 219 T47 Paul Haley 70 74 76 220 72 William Miller 77 78 77 232
