Sept. 11, 2007

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - The Baylor men's golf team carded a 9-over par score of 297 to win the Saint Mary's Invitational on Tuesday afternoon at Poppy Hills Golf Course. Wes Williams finished first overall at 2-under par.

The Bears entered the final round with a four-shot lead over UAB, but the Blazers also shot 297 in the final round. The homestanding Gaels made a final round surge, shooting 290 for the low round of the day.

The team win is the first for Baylor since the Bears tied for the Hootie at Bulls Bay championship last spring. The last time Baylor won a tournament outright was at Border Olympics during the 2006 spring season.

Williams (Franklin, Tenn.) was tied with UAB's Brad Smith for the tournament's individual lead entering the final round, and carded a 1-over par 73 to finish the tournament at 2-under par (71-70-73=214). The senior recorded his first career title. Last season Williams recorded four Top-10 finishes.

Cody Paladino (Kennington, Conn.) finished in a tie for 12th place overall after shooting even-par in the final round. The freshman finished the three rounds at 4-over par (73-75-72=220) in his first collegiate tournament.

Colton Williams (Jacksboro, Texas) and Bill Allcorn (Abilene, Texas) tied for 22nd overall with final-round scores of 4-over par. Both players shot identical rounds over the three tournaments (72-74-76=222) to finish at 6-over par.

Jeff Gerlich (Austin, Texas) shot back-to-back 76s to finish the tournament at 11-over par (75-76-76=227). Weldon Martin (Houston, Texas) finished the tournament in a tie for 67th, recording the lowest score by an individual at 15-over par (78-72-81=231).

Baylor returns to action on September 14-15 as the Bears travel to participate in the William H. Tucker Invitational at the UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M.