Alabama
Puerto Rico Classic
No. 5 Alabama Men’s Golf Fires a 6-Under Par in Final Round of 2019 Puerto Rico Classic
2/19/2019 1:04:00 PM | Men's Golf
Crimson Tide finishes tied for 11th overall after a 24-stroke improvement from opening round to final 18 holes
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – The fifth-ranked Alabama men's golf team carded a final round score of 6-under par 282 and finished play at the 2019 Puerto Rico Classic tied for 11th place overall with a three-day total of 15-over par 879 (306-291-282). After opening the 54-hole tournament with a 306, the Crimson Tide improved by 24 strokes from Sunday's opening 18 holes to Tuesday's third-round score – the best three-day improvement by any squad in the 15-team field.
"It was a disappointing first day," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. "Not only was it was the first round of the spring but also was the first round with this new team. We've got a new dynamic and we wanted to see how we would handle that. We didn't handle it well to begin with quite honestly. We know we are better than that. Over the last two rounds, the guys did a really good job of doing the small things you have to do in order to be a championship-caliber team. I am really proud of how they handled themselves the rest of the week after a bad first day. We'll get better and can't wait to get back to work."
Alabama was led by sophomore Wilson Furr, who carded his second consecutive round in the 60s when he finished with an 18-hole score of 3-under par 69 on Tuesday morning. The Jackson, Miss., native finished the event with a three-day total of 2-under par 214 (77-68-69), doing most of his damage on par-5 holes where he finished 7-under par for the tournament. His average of 4.42 on those holes ranked second-best in the entire field. Following his second consecutive below-70 round, Furr now has eight career rounds in the 60s, including six this season.
Freshman Prescott Butler ended the tournament tied for 41st overall after carding a 4-over 220 (75-76-69), which included a final round of 3-under 69. Freshman Frankie Capan III gave the Tide three golfers below par on Tuesday when he finished at 2-under 70. As a result, he improved to 43rd overall with a 5-over 221 (79-72-70).
Sophomore Davis Shore tied for 66th with a 230 (81-75-74) on the par 72, 6,902-yard Rio Mar Country Club River Course, while senior Alex Green rounded out the Crimson Tide golfers with a 233 (75-82-76) to finish tied for 70th overall.
Fourth-ranked Georgia Tech and No. 21 Georgia were co-champions of the event, as each finished at 16-under par 848. The two closed play four strokes ahead of third place and 13th-ranked Oklahoma (852), while No. 28 NC State (856) and tournament host Purdue (859) rounded out the top five teams.
The Crimson Tide will return to action on March 3-5 when it competes at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate, which will be played in Los Cabos, Mexico.
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Players Mentioned
