March 1, 2011

Final Charleston Shootout Results in PDF Format

HOLLYWOOD, S.C. - Entering the final day as the tournament leader, the Baylor men's golf team put together its best round of the season Tuesday to win the Charleston Shootout by 14 strokes.

Baylor, which owned a four-stroke lead entering the final round, was 4-under through 36 holes before firing a season-low 4-under 284 Tuesday. It was the Bears' first tournament win since claiming the 2009 Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas, and its lowest 54-hole score since the 2008 Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate (839). Baylor finished the Charleston Shootout as the only team with all three rounds under-par at 8-under (285-287-284=856).

Co-host College of Charleston finished second overall at 6-over (290-287-293=870). Radford, Campbell and co-host Charleston Southern wrapped up the remainder of the top five. Charleston Southern's Jacobo Pastor earned individual medalist honors, firing a 7-under 209 to win by one stroke over Campbell's Vaita Guillaume.

"It was good to accomplish what we came here to do," head coach Greg Priest said. "I thought Jerry (Ruiz) played outstanding throughout the tournament. He's the best ball-striker on the team and it was only a matter of time before he'd play like he did this week."

Four of Baylor's five golfers finished in the top 10, while all five finished in the top 25. Sophomore Jerry Ruiz posted his career-first top-five finish, placing third overall at 5-under (70-73-68=211), including a career-low-tying 68 in the final round. Ruiz's 68 was the lowest score of Tuesday's final round and tied for the second-lowest of the tournament.

"You could see (Jerry) gaining confidence in our qualifying rounds," Priest said. "He played great Tuesday."

Junior Joakim Mikkelsen turned in his fourth top-five finish of his career - and his ninth top-10 finish - with a fourth-place showing at 2-under (71-70-73=214).

"A win like this will help build our confidence as we move forward," Priest said. "Our performance helped us knock off some of the rust. I saw a lot of good things from our guys this week."

Ryan O'Rear tied his 54-hole career low, finishing at even-par (71-73-72=216) to tie for fifth place - his first top-five finish of his career. Senior Cody Paladino was the fourth Baylor golfer to finish in the top 10, tying for eighth overall at 1-over (75-71-71=217) after posting back-to-back rounds of 1-under 71. Lorenzo Scotto posted his second top-25 finish of the season, tying for 22nd at 6-over (73-76-73=222).

"When times got rough, we didn't panic," Priest said. "Ryan (O'Rear) was 4-over and then birdied his final four holes to finish even for the day. Seeing how our guys responded this week shows that we have a lot of fight."

In all, Baylor carded seven sub-par rounds in Charleston. Prior to this tournament, the Bears had a combined nine sub-par rounds through the first five tournaments of the season.

"Anytime you can win a tournament, it's great," Priest said. "The guys really earned this one."

Baylor will continue into the month of Month with three tournaments in a 16-day stretch beginning March 11-13 with the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nev.