Tuesday, September 24
Toledo, Ohio (Inverness Club)
All Day
Michigan State University
vs
Inverness Intercollegiate
Spartans Climb the Leaderboard at the Inverness Intercollegiate; Piot Ties for Medalist Honors
9/24/2019 5:44:00 PM | Men's Golf
TOLEDO, Ohio – The Michigan State men's golf team put together its best 18 holes of the season on Tuesday in the final round of the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio. The Spartans climbed three spots up the leaderboard to tie LSU for fourth place at 20-over-par 872 (289-304-279) in a tournament that featured some of the nation's best teams. MSU Junior James Piot tied for the individual title at 2-under-par 211 (69-73-69).
> GOLFSTAT // PDF Results
"Obviously it was an elite field and we had to be elite for 54 holes," MSU head coach Casey Lubahn said. "Even though we weren't good yesterday in our second 18 holes, we were very good today and that helps us leave here with some momentum."
For Piot, who tied Andy Lopez of Texas Tech for the title, it was his second tournament win of the season as the junior took home medalist honors at the season-opening Island Resort Invitational.
"James is the rock of our program," Lubahn said. "Today was a good gut check for him – it was an elite field and he was a couple shots behind going into the day and then he was brilliant. He won it today with his putter, which is really impressive on a hard golf course like Inverness."
It's the second time in three seasons MSU has had a player finish in the top spot at the Inverness Intercollegiate as Kaleb Johnson also tied for medalist honors at the tournament in 2017.
The Spartans' 5-under-par 279 was the second-lowest round of any team on Tuesday as all five players in the MSU lineup lowered their scores over the previous round. Only tournament champion Tennessee had a better round on Tuesday with a 12-under-par 272. The Vols were 4-over-par 856 for the tournament, which topped Notre Dame by eight strokes.
Piot had an extremely consistent start to the day. He parred the first two holes, then birdied the par-3 third hole, and finished the front nine with six consecutive pars. He registered his first bogey on 12, but sandwiched it around two more birdies. Piot's only other bogey came on the 16th, but he responded with his fourth birdie of the day on par-4 17th hole. Piot ended the day with a par on the 18th.
Freshman Bradley Smithson carded his best round of the tournament with a 1-under-par 70. He finished the tournament 5-over-par 218 (74-74-70), putting him in a tie for 22nd place.
Troy Taylor II carded a 1-over-par 72 on Tuesday to finish 9-over-par 222 (70-80-72) as he tied for 35th place.
Andrew Walker bounced back by tying for the best round of the tournament by any player with a 3-under-par 68. The senior had six birdies on the day, at one point getting to 6-under-par. Walker ended the tournament 13-over-par 226 (76-82-68), putting him a tie for 52nd.
Zach Rosendale had his lowest round of the tournament with a 4-over-par 75. He finished 20-over-par 233 (81-77-75).
Devin Deogun played as an individual and finished tied for 54th at 14-over-par 227 (79-78-70).
The Spartans are back in action Oct. 7-8 at the Fighting Irish Classic in South Bend, Indiana.
> GOLFSTAT // PDF Results
"Obviously it was an elite field and we had to be elite for 54 holes," MSU head coach Casey Lubahn said. "Even though we weren't good yesterday in our second 18 holes, we were very good today and that helps us leave here with some momentum."
For Piot, who tied Andy Lopez of Texas Tech for the title, it was his second tournament win of the season as the junior took home medalist honors at the season-opening Island Resort Invitational.
"James is the rock of our program," Lubahn said. "Today was a good gut check for him – it was an elite field and he was a couple shots behind going into the day and then he was brilliant. He won it today with his putter, which is really impressive on a hard golf course like Inverness."
It's the second time in three seasons MSU has had a player finish in the top spot at the Inverness Intercollegiate as Kaleb Johnson also tied for medalist honors at the tournament in 2017.
The Spartans' 5-under-par 279 was the second-lowest round of any team on Tuesday as all five players in the MSU lineup lowered their scores over the previous round. Only tournament champion Tennessee had a better round on Tuesday with a 12-under-par 272. The Vols were 4-over-par 856 for the tournament, which topped Notre Dame by eight strokes.
Piot had an extremely consistent start to the day. He parred the first two holes, then birdied the par-3 third hole, and finished the front nine with six consecutive pars. He registered his first bogey on 12, but sandwiched it around two more birdies. Piot's only other bogey came on the 16th, but he responded with his fourth birdie of the day on par-4 17th hole. Piot ended the day with a par on the 18th.
Freshman Bradley Smithson carded his best round of the tournament with a 1-under-par 70. He finished the tournament 5-over-par 218 (74-74-70), putting him in a tie for 22nd place.
Troy Taylor II carded a 1-over-par 72 on Tuesday to finish 9-over-par 222 (70-80-72) as he tied for 35th place.
Andrew Walker bounced back by tying for the best round of the tournament by any player with a 3-under-par 68. The senior had six birdies on the day, at one point getting to 6-under-par. Walker ended the tournament 13-over-par 226 (76-82-68), putting him a tie for 52nd.
Zach Rosendale had his lowest round of the tournament with a 4-over-par 75. He finished 20-over-par 233 (81-77-75).
Devin Deogun played as an individual and finished tied for 54th at 14-over-par 227 (79-78-70).
The Spartans are back in action Oct. 7-8 at the Fighting Irish Classic in South Bend, Indiana.
Players Mentioned
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