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Fernando Barco fired a final-round 65 as Purdue almost pulled off a remarkable comeback in the NCAA Regionals.
#BoilerNotes
- Fernando Barco's 65 tied Austin Eoff's first-round 65 as the lowest scores by a Purdue player in NCAA competition.
- Barco's 65 is tied for the fourth-lowest round in school history.
- Purdue's 279 today tied for the 15th-lowest 18-hole team score in school history.
- Purdue's 54-hole tally of 847 is the second-lowest score in school history.
- Austin Eoff's 54-hole score of 210 is tied for the 20th-lowest tournament score in school history.
- Fernando Barco's 54-hole score of 212 is tied for the 33rd-lowest 54-hole score in school history.
- Enzo Perez will end his career with the 11th-lowest career scoring average in school history (74.46). He played 110 rounds and accumulated 8,191 strokes.
- Austin Eoff's 72.44 stroke average this season is the third-lowest stroke average for a player in school history.
LUBBOCK, Texas -- After rallying in the third and final round and posting the second-best round of the day, the Purdue men's golf team lost in a playoff to Houston for the fifth and final NCAA Championships qualifying spot on a windy Saturday at The Rawls Course.
The Boilermakers finished with a 54-hole total of 5-under par 847 (279-289-279) to finish tied with Houston for fifth place. No. 2-ranked Texas won the regional at 22-under par 830 (273-282-285), and was followed by No. 9-ranked Texas Tech at 18-under par 834 (278-274-282). Duke (-8) and No. 13-ranked Auburn (-7) will join Houston at the NCAA Championships in Bradenton, Florida, on May 29 - June 3.
After sitting in ninth place after 36 holes, the Boilermakers posted a 5-under par score of 279 to surge to fifth, then was forced to wait as other teams finished their rounds. Purdue was in fifth place all by itself when it ended play. However, Houston was playing the back nine which ends in par-5s on hole Nos. 17 and 18. The Cougars were able to birdie the 17th hole twice to force a playoff.
Houston eventually won the five-person playoff by posting a 1-under par score on the 18th hole, while Purdue finished the extra hole in even-par, ending Purdue's bid for its second straight NCAA Championships appearance.
"Obviously, we did a lot of good things today and if you would have told me at the start of the day that we would have been in that position, I would have taken it," head coach Rob Bradley said. "It's really tough to finish like that, but I am really proud of this group. We gave it all we had and had guys really show what they are capable of. That is really all you can ask for."
TEAM LEADERBOARD1) [9] Texas Tech 278 274 282 834 -182) [2] Texas 273 282 275 830 -223) [48] Duke 276 282 286 844 -84) [13] Auburn 280 285 280 845 -7T-5) [35] Houston 274 287 286 847 -5 PURDUE 279 289 279 847 -57) [26] California 279 287 282 848 -48) [38] Louisville 283 281 288 852 Even
The Boilermakers got strong rounds up-and-down the lineup, but none was more impressive than sophomore Fernando Barco. Playing in his first competition since early-March, Barco fired a career-best, six-under par 65, a round that featured seven birdies and just one bogey. His 65 was the best score of the day and moved him up 44 spots in the individual rankings into a 14th-place tie at 1-under par 212 (72-75-65).
Barco was second in the tournament field in par-3 scoring (-1) and birdies (15).
"Fernando had a great round in really tough conditions and we always knew he had that in him," Bradley said. "To get that from your lead golfer in a final round of an NCAA Regional is impressive. He was outstanding today."
PURDUE INDIVIDUALS 10) Austin Eoff 65 73 72 210 -3T-14) Fernando Barco 72 75 65 212 -1T-30) Enzo Perez 69 73 72 214 +1T-46) Brian Carlson 73 74 70 217 +4T-58) Stuart Macdonald 75 69 76 220 +7
Freshman Brian Carlson also pieced together his best round of the regional in the final round with a 1-under par 70 to finish tied for 46th at 4-over par 217 (73-74-70). Carlson recorded 15 pars with two birdies and one bogey on Saturday and shared the tournament lead in par-5 scoring at 6-under par.
"Brian had a really good round today. He knew we were right there as a team at the end of the round and knew he had to be solid and he was," Bradley said. "It was a good ending to his freshman year for him."
Purdue's tournament leader was sophomore Austin Eoff, who finished 10th at 3-under par 210 (65-73-72). Eoff had a see-saw round, especially on his back nine where he alternated birdies and bogeys on four consecutive holes. Nonetheless, his 10th-place finish was the equaled the highest for a Purdue golfer in NCAA Regional play since Lee Williamson finished fifth in 2001. His 54-hole score of 3-under par 210 was the lowest round for a Purdue player in NCAA Regional competition.
Senior Enzo Perez closed out his career with a 30th-place finish after shooting a 1-over par 214 (69-73-72). Perez was even-par through nine holes, but fell to 2-over par through 17 holes, before a birdie on his 18th hole ended his day at 1-over par 72.
"It's tough to end like this for Enzo, but I am really proud of what he did this spring," Bradley said. "He had a really rough fall, but really battled back to get in the lineup and was playing really strong golf late in the year. I'm proud of how he responded."
Stuart Macdonald shot a 5-over par 76 to finish tied for 58th at 7-over par 220 (75-69-76). Macdonald was even through six holes today, but could never get anything going in finishing with a 76.
Next season, Bradley will return four NCAA Regional starters from this year's team (Eoff, Barco, Carlson, Macdonald) and welcomes a highly-regarded recruiting class for the 2015-16 campaign.
#BoilerUp