Oregon State
El Macero Invitational
Beavers, Murphy Finish Second at El Macero Classic
April 17, 2016 | Men's Golf
EL MACERO, Calif. – Oregon State head coach Jon Reehoorn knew his men's golf team was due for a low score.
That's exactly what happened at the El Macero Classic on Sunday, as the Beavers fired a 6-under 282 to move two spots up the leaderboard and finish in second place. The 6-under 282 in the final round was five strokes better than any team in the field of 15.
Texas Tech won the team title with a 12-over 291-295-290--876 and Oregon State finished second with a 20-over 303-299-282--884 at the par-72, 6,912-yard El Macero Country Club.
“Entering the day I simply asked the guys to believe they had a chance to go out there and believe they had a chance to shoot a really low score,” Reehoorn said. “When we relax and have fun and just play the game they know how, this team has a ton of fire power.”
Junior Kevin Murphy led the Sunday charge with a 4-under 68 that moved him into a tie for first place through 72 holes. He lost to Ryan Books of TCU on the first playoff hole, the par-4 sixth, but still finished in a career-best second place. His previous best finish was a tie for third at the Duck Invitational in 2014.
Murphy had 11 birdies over the three rounds, including five chirps on Sunday, to finish with an even-par 74-74-68--216.
“It was such a good performance from Kevin,” Reehoorn said. “In my mind what makes it even better is how he responded from his play at Chambers Bay last week.”
Junior Calum Hill also had his best finish as a Beaver, finishing in ninth place with a 4-over 77-72-71--220. The transfer from the University of Louisiana-Monroe is in his first year at Oregon State, and his previous best finish this season was a tie for 16th place at the Husky Invitational in September.
Senior Tyler Carlson also posted his first career top-10 finish, a tie for 10th place, with a 5-over 75-77-69--221. The 69 in the final round is a season best and just one stroke off the best score of his four-year career, a 3-under 68 at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in 2013.
Junior Conner Kumpula and sophomore Jonas Liebich both finished in a tie for 53rd place with a 15-over 231, as Kumpula had scores of 77-78-76 and Liebich got better each round with 81-76-74.
Senior Chris Tedesco competed as an individual for the Beavers and finished in a tie for 42nd place with a 13-over 79-74-76--229.
The Beavers have 10 days off before competing at the Pac-12 Championship, which will be held Monday, April 29 through Wednesday, May 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“Now we have 10 days to get ready for Pac'12's and hopefully take some momentum from our performance today,” Reehoorn said. “When we play like we did today, these guys are really good.”
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