April 5, 2015
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team maintained its position on the leaderboard during the final round of the Mason Rudolph Championship on Sunday. The Irish battled a second straight day of difficult conditions and challenging pin placements to finish in solo 11th place on the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course at 908 (291, 306, 311).
Sophomore Matthew Rushton closed the weekend as the top Notre Dame finisher in the field, posting a Sunday six-over-par 77 to share 27th place at 222 (69-76-77). Thanks to his back-to-back birdies at the par-5 17th and 18th holes during his final round, Rushton finished two-under on par-5 holes at the Vanderbilt Legends Club South Course for the event.
Senior Tyler Wingo shaved four strokes off his round two total to card the top Irish score of the day, a four-over-par 75, to share 40th place overall at 224 (70-79-75). Wingo also logged consecutive birdies at the par-5 18th and par-4 first holes in his final round, with the four at 18 sending him out in even par 36 on his front nine. Wingo led all Notre Dame players with a three-under cumulative par-5 scoring average during the tournament.
Sophomore Blake Barens was the next Notre Dame finisher, recording a final round 80 to tie for 65th place at 231. Freshman Thomas Steve shared 69th place at 235 (78-78-79), while senior David Lowe rounded out the Irish starting lineup in solo 78th place at 240 (83-75-82).
No. 6 Vanderbilt completed the wire-to-wire victory in its home event, firing the round of the tournament on Sunday with a team five-under-par 279 to win by 11 strokes at 846 (280-287-279). No. 15 Georgia Tech (283-287-287) and No. 27 Alabama (287-283-287) shared runner-up honors at 857. No. 21 Kennesaw State (283-295-290=868) claimed solo fourth place, while No. 44 East Tennessee State (291-288-290) tied for fifth place at 869.
Notre Dame closes the 2014-15 season at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship on April 24-26 at the Old North State Club in New London, North Carolina.
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