Feb. 22, 2011
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico –
James White shot a 4-under-par 68 to capture medalist honors, and Georgia Tech shot a 9-under-par round of 279 Tuesday, but the 5th-ranked Yellow Jackets couldn’t match the closing surge of 4th-ranked Alabama and finished second at the Puerto Rico Classic golf tournament.
White, who shot 69-69 the first two days, bogeyed the third hole, but finished with five birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way. His 10-under-par total of 206 was one shot better than Alabama All-American Bud Cauley and provided the Acworth, Ga., junior with his second victory of the year.
“I didn’t start off so quick like the day before, but I kept telling myself that things would turn out, and I’d have a chance at the end,” said White, who has never shot above 71 in nine rounds on this golf course. “I felt like right around the turn there were some good chances to make birdies. The holes from 11 to 15 you could bank on. I tried to get one or two in the beginning and stay steady.
“There are a lot of doglegs right-to-left on this golf course, which is a natural shot for me. We feel like the hardest shots on this course are the tee shots, and if you can get those, you can play the course well. The tee shots here fit my eye very well.”
Kyle Scott added a 3-under 69 for the Jackets to go with his opening 70-69 and finished third at 8-under 208, his third top-5 finish this year. John-Tyler Griffin went 70-72-70 to finish tied for eighth at 4-under 212, his fifth top-10 finish in seven events. Freshman Richard Werenski shot 72 Tuesday and tied for 16th at 1-under 215, the fourth Yellow Jacket to finish in the top 20.
Tech and Alabama began the day tied for first at 14-under-par at the Westin Rio Mar Resort’s River Course. They played the front nine neck-and-neck, but the Crimson Tide turned on the afterburners and played the back nine in 10-under-par to separate themselves.
Alabama, which shot 14-under 274 for the round, finished 54 holes at 28-under-par 836, while the Yellow Jackets finished at 23-under 841. No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State was third at 17-under 847. No. 13 Georgia was a distant fourth at 6-under 858, followed by Virginia Tech at 1-under 863.
The 15-team field included seven teams in the nation’s top 25.
“Everybody had a good tournament,” said head coach Bruce Heppler, whose fifth player, senior Paul Haley, tied for 23rd. “We had four inside the top 20 and James won it, so it was a good tournament for us. It was a good experience for these guys, and a real positive trip. When you have a guy win and a guy finish third, you can win some tournaments.”
White, who won the Untied States Collegiate Championship in the fall and has finished in the top 10 of four consecutive events, concurred.
“We’ve been in contention every tournament, and we just need to keep getting ourselves in that situation and hope it goes our way the next time,” he said.
Tech returns to action Mar. 11 at the SHC Masters in Las Vegas, Nev.
PUERTO RICO CLASSICWestin Rio Mar Resort, River Course, Rio Grande, Puerto RicoFinal Results
TEAM STANDINGS 1 Alabama 281 281 274 836 -28 2 Georgia Tech 278 284 279 841 -23 3 Oklahoma State 283 285 279 847 -17 4 Georgia 289 291 278 858 -6 5 Virginia Tech 286 287 290 863 -1 6 Oklahoma 287 289 288 864 E 7 Texas 292 285 290 867 +3 8 North Carolina State 288 295 288 871 +7 9 Clemson 290 291 292 873 +9 10 Ohio State 295 296 284 875 +11 11 Purdue 289 301 290 880 +16 12 Michigan 300 302 286 888 +24 13 Northwestern 289 303 297 889 +25 14 UNCG 294 295 301 890 +26 15 East Tennessee St. 294 293 306 893 +29
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS 1 James White Georgia Tech 69 69 68 206 -10 2 Bud Cauley Alabama 69 68 70 207 -9 3 Kyle Scott Georgia Tech 70 69 69 208 -8 T4 Bobby Wyatt Alabama 69 71 69 209 -7 T4 Peter Uihlein Oklahoma State 72 72 65 209 -7 T4 Marshall Bailey Virginia Tech 69 71 69 209 -7 7 Morgan Hoffmann Oklahoma State 71 67 72 210 -6 T8 J.T. Griffin Georgia Tech 70 72 70 212 -4 T8 Riley Pumphrey Oklahoma 70 71 71 212 -4 T8 Hunter Hamrick Alabama 72 73 67 212 -4 T11 Crawford Reeves Clemson 71 73 69 213 -3 T11 Trey Mullinax Alabama 71 69 73 213 -3 T13 Talor Gooch Oklahoma State 71 71 72 214 -2 T13 T.J. Mitchell Georgia 73 71 70 214 -2 T13 Garland Green Virginia Tech 70 71 73 214 -2 T16 Richy Werenski Georgia Tech 69 74 72 215 -1 T16 Hudson Swafford Georgia 71 75 69 215 -1 T16 Abraham Ancer Oklahoma 74 70 71 215 -1 T16 Cory Whitsett Alabama 72 75 68 215 -1
