The 24th-ranked Chattanooga Mocs shook off a tough start to close strong at the Prestige at PGA West’s Norman Course. The squad turned in a final round 281 (-3) to move four spots up the leaderboard.
The Mocs passed UC Davis, Iowa State, Nevada and San Francisco on the final day. It’s 3 under total in the afternoon tied for the second-lowest round of the second wave with No. 18 Oregon.
John Houk paced the group with a 3-under 68. That was one better than Ward Harris’ 69 with Paul Conroy turning in 70. Samuel Espinosa added 74, while Braedon Wear had the drop score of 77.
Houk’s day put him at 3-under 210 for the tournament. He posted or tied for the low Mocs card all three days. Conroy followed with 218 as Wear (222), Harris (225) and Espinosa (230) completed the 54-hole scoring.
No. 19 Texas Tech (819) ran away with the title by 12 shots over Kansas (831) as Stanford (835) finished third. The Jayhawks’ Cecil Belisle was medalist with 200.
Chattanooga has 12 days to tune up for the next adventure. The Scenic City lads tee off at the Colleton River Collegiate March 4-5 in Bluffton, S.C., at the Colleton River Club.
The Prestige
Feb. 19-21 (Mon-Wed) | Palm Desert, Calif.
PGA West (Norman) | Par 71 | 7,100 yards | 54 holes (18/day)
Lineup
20th of 24: 291-299-281=871 (+19)
T25) John Houk: 70-72-68=210 (-3)
T72) Paul Conroy: 72-76-70=218 (+5)
101) Braedon Wear: 70-75-77=222 (+9)
T108) Ward Harris: 80-76-69=225 (+12)
T114) Samuel Espinosa: 79-77-74=230 (+17)
Field
(24) Chattanooga, Baylor, UC Davis, UCLA, Cal Poly, Colorado State, (25) Duke, Iowa State., Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, Northwestern, (18) Oregon, Oregon State, Princeton, San Diego, San Francisco, SMU, Stanford, (19) Texas Tech, (5) Washington & Washington State