NEWBURGH, Ind. --- The No. 32-ranked Purdue men's golf team finished tied for sixth at the Big Ten Championships that wrapped up Sunday under beautiful conditions at Victoria National Golf Club.
The Boilermakers finished the 54-hole event with a 9-over par total of 873 (291-291-291) to finish tied for sixth with Northwestern. Illinois, which shot 24-under par in Sunday's final round, won its second straight title with a 26-under par score of 838. Iowa was second at 13-under par, while Maryland (+2), Michigan (+3) and Michigan State (+3) rounded out the top five.
"I'm really disappointed with our finish," head coach Rob Bradley said. "I thought we were ready to play and compete for a title. We did a lot of things well, but great teams close out rounds and we didn't get it done. We need to get to work and start preparing for NCAA regionals. I know we are better than we played this week."
As was the case in the first two rounds, the Boilermakers struggled late in the round on the difficult Victoria National Golf Club closing stretch. The Boilermakers entered the final three holes just a shot out of third place, but the Purdue five played the final three holes in a combined 8-over par, including 8-over par from the four members of Purdue's counting team.
For the entire tournament, Purdue played the final three holes in a combined 17-over par. Over the first 15 holes, Purdue was a cumulative 4-over par.
Fernando Barco was Purdue's top finisher, placing T-17th with a 54-hole total of 1-over par 217 (69-75-73). Barco was 3-under par through 10 holes and remained there through 15 holes, before a bogey-bogey-double bogey stretch over the final three holes dropped him to 17th place and 1-over par for the tournament. The finish gave him his seventh top-20 finish in 11 events this year.
Austin Eoff also earned a top-20 finish after a final-round 74 gave him a 2-over par 218 (73-71-74) to finish tied for 20th. Eoff bogeyed the opening three holes, but got to 1-over par with an eagle on the par-5 10th hole. He was still 1-over par through 15 holes, before a double-bogey on No. 16 dropped him to 3-over par on his round. He closed out the tournament with a birdie on the difficult 18th hole to earn a top-20 finish.
Brian Carlson recorded a final-round 74 to finish in a tie for 25th place at 3-over par 219 (72-73-74). Carlson eagled the par-4 second hole to go to 2-under par on his round and was still 1-under par through 15 holes, before bogeys on his final three holes dropped him out of the top 15 for the tournament.
Senior Stuart Macdonald had a strong final round, jumping 12 spots into a 28th-place tie with a 2-under par 70 to finish 54 holes at 5-over par 221 (77-74-70). Macdonald was 3-under par through 12 holes, but back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14 dropped him to 1-under par. Macdonald would also birdie the 18th hole for a final-round 70 and his 11th round of even-par or better this year.
Freshman Jarle Volden wrapped up his first Big Ten Championships appearance with a 4-over par 76 in the final round to conclude his tournament at 10-over par 226 (77-73-76), good for a 39th-place tie. Volden triple-bogeyed the par-4 2nd hole, but played the remainder of his round in just 1-over par.
Purdue will likely qualify for its third straight NCAA Regionals appearance when the pairings are announced on May 5 on the Golf Channel. Purdue last qualified for three straight NCAA appearances when it made four straight trips from 2004-07. Purdue is one of just four Big Ten teams to make two straight appearances, joining Illinois, Iowa and Ohio State as conference teams that made the NCAAs in 2014 and 2015.