Northwestern Surges With Best Kepler Final Round

4/10/2016 6:22:00 PM | Men's Golf

KEPLER INTERCOLLEGIATE FINAL RESULTS

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new day, a new Northwestern.

One round after struggling to a 15^th-place opening score at the 16-team Kepler Intercollegiate hosted by Ohio State at The Scarlet Course, the Wildcats improved by 24 strokes in Sunday's final round at the weather-shortened event, besting the entire field for the day by seven shots and jumping all the way up into a tie for ninth as a team.

While former Wildcat Matthew Fitzpatrick was firing the best final round score at The Masters at Augusta National Sunday (5-under 67), his old teammates were following the same script in Columbus with a 6-over 290. The score allowed Northwestern to move into a tie with Liberty for ninth in the event at 36-over 604 (314-290).

"We needed a response from the guys today and they responded," head coach David Inglis said. "To show up today and have the lowest round of the day by seven shots was impressive. It shows their grit and resolve to come back after such a disappointing first round, and that's going to be crucial as we get ready for the Big Ten Championships."

The tournament was cut to a 36-hole event with single rounds Saturday and Sunday due to unseasonably poor weather; Sunday became a shotgun start and weather once again delayed the opening. Northwestern teed off on holes 13 through 17 on the back side.

Dylan Wu was 3-over par through 10 holes on his final round before roaring back with birdies at Nos. 6, 9 and 12 to climb all the way back to even par. He closed with a par on the lengthy 221-yard par-3 13^th to shoot even-par 71 and jump 35 places up the standings into the top-20. His seven-stroke improvement from the first to the final rounds gave him a 7-over 149 (78-71), good for 18^th overall.

Meanwhile, Josh Jamieson also had a big move from the opening to the closing rounds. He countered five bogeys with four birdies Sunday for a 1-over 72, five strokes better than he was on Saturday. Jamieson matched Wu with a top-20 effort, placing 18^th in 7-over 149 (77-72) after moving 30 places up the board Sunday.

Ryan Lumsden was 1-under par after 10 holes of play thanks to a birdie-birdie couplet at Nos. 3 and 4. A double bogey at the ninth, however, put him back in the black. He was 2-over par entering his final hole, the par-4 16^th, where he sunk a birdie putt to finish at 1-over 72. Lumsden flew 26 places higher on the leaderboard to finish 49^th at 11-over 153 (81-72) after besting his opening round by nine strokes.

Sam Triplett made double bogey on his first hole Sunday and remained on that number 10 holes later. At that point, he played the next three holes in 4-over par, but closed with birdies on two of his final three holes to claw back to a 4-over 75 and help NU jump into the top-10 in the team standings as a counting score. Triplett finished 51^st at 12-over 154 (79-75).

Andrew Whalen rounded out Northwestern's day with an 8-over 78 for a two-day total of 17-over 159 (80-79), placing 72^nd.

Northwestern returns to action April 16-17 at the Boilermaker Invitational in its final tournament before the Big Ten Championships.

STANDINGS
t-9th/16 • Northwestern • 314-290=604 (+36)
T18 – Dylan Wu, 78-71=149 (+7)
T18 – Josh Jamieson, 77-72=149 (+7)
T49 – Ryan Lumsden, 81-72=153 (+11)
T51 – Sam Triplett, 79-75=154 (+12)
72 – Andrew Whalen, 80-79=159 (+17)

Complete results are available in the .pdf at the top of this page.

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