Cappelen shoots 63, finishes second

EL PASO, Texas – Junior Sebastian Cappelen of the University of Arkansas men’s golf team shot a final round 63, eight-under par, to vault himself into second place at the Western Refining College All-American on Tuesday.

Beginning the day in a tie for seventh, Cappelen had the best single round of the event when he fired his round of 63.  The previous best was six-under par, 65, which several players had carded including Cappelen.  With a three-round score of 200, 13-under par for the tournament, Cappelen finished one stroke behind Kevin Penner of UNLV who finished at 199, 14-under par.  Penner entered the final day in a tie for first and shot three-under par for the day to take medalist honors.

For the round, Cappelen finished Tuesday’s round with eight birdies, an eagle and two bogeys as he blistered the El Paso Country Club course.  Opening with back-to-back-to-back birdies, the Dane hit a fourth birdie on No. 7 and was four-under par before his first bogey of the round on the par four, 389-yard, eighth.  Cappelen responded from the setback with his eagle on the par five, 534-yard, ninth, to make the turn at five-under par.

On the back nine, Cappelen began with three pars before he dropped in his first birdie on No. 13.  A par and bogey later, Cappelen closed with three straight birdies to get to eight-under par and within one stroke of the lead.

The Western Refining College All-American included some of the best golfers in the nation with 11 top 100 players in the 23-man field.  Cappelen’s finish allowed him to beat seven top 25 players including the No. 1 ranked Ben Taylor of Nova Southeastern.

The Razorbacks return to action as a team in early February, but Cappelen and others will play in one more event before the spring semester begins, the Patriot All-American late December.