ATLANTA – No. 5 Georgia Tech fired a final day 5-under par as a squad and finished fourth Tuesday in the Golfweek Preview Invitational, which was held at the 6,985-yard, par 72 Lake Course at the Grand National Golf Club. The Jackets finished at even par as a team and were 16 strokes behind winner Northwestern.
Tech received a surprising boost from sophomore Matt Weibring (Plano, Texas), who carded a 73-71-71 -215 total to finish 1-under par and 12th for the tournament. Returning all-Americas Bryce Molder (Conway, Ark.) and Matt Kuchar (Lake Mary, Fla.) each finished at even par for the tournament and tied for 14th overall. Molder, a junior and runner-up for the Fred Haskins award last year, rebounded with a team-best 3-under 69 to notch a top 20 finish. Kuchar, a senior, was also under par on the day with a 71. Redshirt-freshman Troy Matteson (Austin, Texas) fired a 72-75-73 -220 to finish 4-over and in a tie for 26th in his first collegiate tournament. Senior Carlton Forrester (Gainesville, Ga.) shot an even-par 72 on the day to finish tied for 41st at 6-over.
“The key for me was rallying after being 4-over after the first eight holes of the tournament,” said Weibring, son of PGA Tour veteran D.A. Weibring. “The greens didn’t have much grass left and as a result everyone struggled with that to some degree. I was able to hit 16 greens in regulation today and felt a good rhythm. Everybody pulled together today which makes us hungry for our next tournament at the Farm.”
NCAA individual champion Luke Donald picked up where he left off as he scorched the Lake Course for a 67 on the final day to claim medalist honors at 68-73-67 -208 to finish at 8-under par. With teammate Jess Daley placing second at 7-under, Northwestern claimed team honors at 16-under par to defeat Clemson by eight strokes.
Tech is next in action Oct. 1-3 when it hosts its annual Carpet Capital Collegate at the Farm Golf Course in Rocky Face, Ga.
Final Team Results1. Northwestern 285-281-282 -8482. Clemson 279-284-293 -8563. Arizona St. 289-292-282 -8634. Georgia Tech 290-291-283 -8645. Georgia 285-290-293 -868 Oklahoma St. 289-298-281 -8687. Houston 292-297-288 -8778. South Carolina 300-292-289 -8819. Auburn 295-295-296 -886 New Mexico 293-296-297 -88611. UNLV 299-302-286 -88712. Texas 300-302-294 -89613. Florida 313-298-291 -902 Minnesota 299-307-296 -90215. UCLA 298-299-306 -90316. North Carolina 306-299-303 -90817. E. Tennessee St. 303-307-300 -91018. Nebraska 320-307-307 -934Top 10 Individuals1. Luke Donald, Northwestern 68-73-67 -2082. Jess Daley, Northwestern 71-69-69 -2093. Lucas Glover, Clemson 71-67-72 -2104. Matt Jones, Arizona St. 70-74-67 -2115. Bubba Watson, Georgia 67-75-71 -2136. Charles Howell, Okla. St. 72-74-68 -214 Brandon Di Tullio, UCLA 70-70-74 -214 Nick Cassini, Georgia 73-70-71 -214 John Engler, Clemson 69-72-73 -214 Anders Hultman, Okla. St. 73-68-73 -214 D.J. Trahan, Clemson 68-72-74 -214Georgia Techt-12. Matt Weibring 73-71-71 -215t-14. Bryce Molder 73-74-69 -216 Matt Kuchar 72-73-71 -216t-26. Troy Matteson 72-75-73 -220t-41. Carlton Forrester 77-73-72 -222
