Men's golf fourth in Tucson

TUCSON, Ariz. – Sophomore Thomas Sorensen tied for third individually in leading the No. 15 University of Arkansas men’s golf team to a fourth-place finish at the Don Puckette National Invitational Tournament at OMNI Tucson National in Tucson, Ariz., on Sunday.

Arkansas moved up two spots on the final day of competition by shooting a round of two-under par as a team.  No. 18 TCU won the event with a score of 19-under par and was followed by No. 5 New Mexico (-17), No. 13 Oklahoma State (-14), Arkansas (-9) and No. 27 Texas A&M (-7).

“Conditions were difficult today and I was happy with the way that we came out and made shots,” Arkansas head coach Brad McMakin said.  “We were one of only four teams to shoot under par today and that tells me a lot about the ability of this team.  I am really happy for Thomas.  He was very close to winning last week and continued to play well this weekend.  He continues to improve and that will help our team in the long run.”

Sorensen finished his final round at one-over par, but six-under for the two-day affair, two strokes behind Julien Brun of TCU.  Opening the round with a birdie on No. 5, his first hole of the day, Sorensen’s up-and-down day included five bogeys, a double bogey and six birdies.  The Dane struggled in the middle of the day when he went from one-under par to four-over after three bogeys and a double bogey over a five-hole span.  He responded from the setback by sinking birdie putts on three of his final five holes to move the Razorbacks back up in the team standings.

Senior Austin Cook posted Arkansas’ best score of the day when he fired a two-under par, 70, on Sunday.  Getting off to a rocky start, Cook carded back-to-back bogeys to start his round, but picked up a birdie two holes later.  Cook played the remaining 14 holes at three-under par with three brides and 11 pars to tie for 14th overall, moving up nine spots on the final day.

Also posting a below-par score on Sunday was freshman Taylor Moore who used three birdies and two bogeys to shoot one-under for the day and tournament.  Moore’s score tied for 19th overall and was achieved by getting off to a solid start with back-to-back birdies on his fourth and fifth holes of the day.  He would give both strokes back on the back side of the course before sinking a birdie putt on No. 2, his 14th hole of the day and wrap up the tournament with four straight pars.

Junior Sebastian Cappelen’s bogey on his 18th hole of the day prevented him from going under par for the tournament, shooting even par for the day and tying for 22nd overall. Cappelen hit three birdie putts and sank three bogeys on way to his final score.

Arkansas’ fifth score of the day was played by freshman Nicolas Echavarria who played the course at two-over par.  Moving under par with a birdie on his fourth hole, Echavarria was one-over five holes later after a pair of bogeys.  The first-year player carded a double bogey late in his round, but came right back with a birdie to finish the tournament at seven-over par and tied for 51st.

Junior William Meason, playing as an individual, shot nine-over par, 81, on Sunday to finish tied for 76th.  Meason recorded seven bogeys, a triple bogey and a birdie during his final day of competition which gave him a three-round score of 14-over par.

The Razorbacks take the next two weekends off before returning to the links on April 6 for the Aggie Invitational in College Station, Texas.