Feb. 18, 2015
LA QUINTA, Calif. - San Diego State senior Xander Schauffele tied for second individually on Wednesday after shooting a 5-under par 67 to lead the Aztec men's golf team during the final round of The Prestige at PGA WEST.
In an elite field that featured seven top-20 squads, the 32nd-ranked Aztecs moved up one notch in the team standings for the second day in a row, finishing alone in third place with a collective 23-under 841 after posting their lowest score of the week with a 277 on the par-72, 7,204-yard Jack Nicklaus Course.
Arizona State (-31) held onto its second-round lead to claim the team title by four strokes over a hard-charging Stanford club (-27) that vaulted five places into the runner-up position after posting a tournament-low 268 on Wednesday, while LSU (-21) and Oklahoma State (-21) finished two shots in back of the Aztecs.
Schauffele saved his best for last, draining a team-high six birdies against one bogey during the final roudn, including back-to-back conversions on the 15th and 16th en route to his second straight top-five finish and fourth of the season.
With his effort, the reigning Mountain West Golfer of the Week joined ASU's Jon Rahm in the No. 2 spot just four strokes behind Maverick McNealy of Stanford, who collected medalist honors at 15-under 201 after carding a final-round 64.
SDSU had two other players finish among the top 20, including junior Ryann Ree (Redondo Beach, Calif.), who jumped six places into the 18th position at 5-under 211, followed closely by sophomore Nahum Mendoza (San Diego, Calif.), who tied for 19th with a combined 212.
Like Schauffele, Ree recorded just one bogey over the final 18 holes, sinking five birdies overall, including an impressive make on the par-3, 192-yard No. 3, which played as the fourth-most difficult hole on Wednesday for his third sub-70 tally in six rounds as an Aztec.
Meanwhile, Mendoza was not as fortunate, slipping six spots from Tuesday after posting a final-round 72. Despite posting four birdies, the Francis Parker High alumnus was sandbagged by four bogeys, including two on a pair of par-5 holes, Nos. 4 and 15.
Conversely, PJ Samiere (Kailua, Hawaii) was able to recover from early struggles, jumping three spots into a tie for 21st at 213 after firing a 70 on Wednesday. The SDSU freshman made bogey on his first two holes, but rebounded nicely with five birdies the rest of the way to lower his score for the second consecutive round.
The Aztec contingent also featured sophomore Brian Song (Beverly Hills, Calif.), who posted his second straight 75 to finish the tournament in a tie for 48th at 6-over 222.
San Diego State will have the next 10 days off from competition before traveling to the desert for the National Invitational Tournament, Feb. 28-March 2, in Tucson, Ariz.
The Prestige at PGA WESTFinal ResultsJack Nicklaus Tournament CourseLa Quinta, Calif.Par 72, 7,204 yards
Team Scores (Top 5 of 14 teams + SDSU)1. Arizona State 279-274-280--833 (-312. Stanford 288-281-268--837 (-27)3. San Diego State 284-280-277--841 (-23)T4. LSU 284-286-273--843 (-21)T4. Oklahoma State 284-283-288--843 (-21)
Individual Leaders (Top 6 of 79 players + SDSU1. Maverick McNealy, Stanford 68-69-64--201 (-15)T2. Xander Schauffele, SDSU 70-68-67--205 (-11)T2. Jon Rahm, Arizona State 66-70-69--205 (-11)T4. Myles Lewis, LSU 69-68-65--206 (-10)T4. Sean Crocker, Oklahoma State 68-69-68--206 (-10)T4. Max Rottluff, Arizona State 70-66-70--206 (-10)---18. Ryann Ree, SDSU 70-73-68--211 (-5)T19. Nahum Mendoza III, SDSU 72-68-72--212 (-4)T21. PJ Samiere, SDSU 72-71-70--213 (-3)T48. Brian Song, SDSU 72-75-75--222 (+6)