FINAL TEAM LEADERBOARD |
FINAL PLAYER LEADERBOARD
AMARILLO, Texas - After coming into the day with a 12-stroke lead, a short-handed Eagles bunch held firm at the top spot as No. 4 Oklahoma Christian men's golf took first at the 2024 Ryan Palmer Invitational with a 54-hole score of 26-under 814.
It is the first event win for OC since the opening tournament of the 2023 fall season when the Eagles shot 36-under 828 at the MSSU Men's Fall Invitational. Three of the Top-5 individual finishers were from Oklahoma Christian that day.
With
Oskari Nikku having to withdraw ahead of the final 18 holes due to sickness, Oklahoma Christian had to play the final round with just four players. All four players shot at or under par on the last day to help OC's lead remain intact.
Leading those four players on the final day was 2023 Second Team All-America
Exequiel Rodriguez and true freshman
Juan Repetto with dual 2-under 68s. Rodriguez eagled the par 5, 558-yard 13th before birdying the par 3 17th to finish alone at fifth while Repetto was 18th on the leaderboard.
On Tuesday,
Leandro Mihaich, as he did on that September day in 2023, paced the Eagles for the tournament after carding a 9-under 201. On the final round, a slow front nine that saw the junior Argentinian 2-over 36 gave way to a 3-under 33 back nine, including birdies on three of his final four holes to claim his second Top-5 finish through three tournaments.
Blas Ayesa carded the second eagle of the day for the Eagles five-bag on the same par 5 13th as did Rodriguez for Ayesa's best round of the three, posting an even-par 70. Ayesa moved up 12 spots on the individual leaderboard to finish tied for 34th at 3-over 213.
Among OC's individual participants,
Alex Rigby delivered a three-round best 1-under 69 to rise 11 spots to finish at 67th.
Vertti Perala came in at 30th with a 54-hole 2-over 212 to complete Oklahoma Christian's competitors for the two-day event.
The No. 4 Eagles will have next week off before finishing the fall season with the Nassau Intercollegiate hosted by NCAA Division I Long Island University in Glen Cove, N.Y. Oct. 21-22.
