Feb. 26, 2012

Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate Final Results

PALM DESERT, Calif. -Senior Joakim Mikkelsen tallied his fourth top-five performance of the season, finishing tied for second Sunday at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.

Mikkelsen carded the second-lowest score of the final round, firing a 4-under 68 to finish the weekend in a three-way tie for second place at 6-under 210. The Drammen, Norway, native bogeyed the final hole to finish one stroke behind tournament winner, Kevin Penner of UNLV (7-under 209).

Baylor, ranked 29th nationally by Golfstat, was 1-over through two rounds, but shot a final-round 292 to finish the tournament in 10th place at 5-over 869. No. 14 UNLV shot 20-under 844 to win the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate by seven strokes over defending champion Texas Tech.

"We struggled all weekend, we had a lot of 3-putts and just didn't play well," head coach Greg Priest said. "Joakim played really. He kept getting better and better with each round and put himself in contention to win it.

"There is a lot of stuff for us to work on," Priest said. "We have to find the right mix for our lineup. We're fine. We have to continue to improve each week."

Mikkelsen has finished in the top 10 in six of Baylor's seven tournaments this season, while finishing under-par in five. He now has 10 career top-five finishes, which rank fifth in program history; his 17 career top-10 finishes are tied with Jeremy Alcorn for fourth all-time.

After back-to-back even-par rounds, senior Lorenzo Scotto shot a final-round 74 to tie for 35th overall at 2-over 218. Freshman Mikkelsen Bjerch-Andresen tied for 52nd overall at 6-over 222, followed by redshirt freshman Niclas Mansson in 59th at 7-over 223. Junior Ryan O'Rear is tied for 75th at 10-over 226.

Baylor returns to Texas for the Border Olympics, which will be held March 16-17 in Laredo.