MADISON, Miss. – Florida senior Tyson Alexander earned the first individual title of his career as he claimed the BancorpSouth Intercollegiate crown and led the Florida men’s golf team to a second-place finish Tuesday at the Reunion Golf and Country Club.
Alexander overcame senior teammate Tim McKenney to win the medalist honors by shooting a 2-under-par 70 for a three-round total of 11-under 205. McKenney shot an even-par round of 72 for a 10-under-par 206.
“I’m proud of Tyson and Tim (McKenney),” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “They really ran away from the rest of the field. For Tyson to get his first college victory in what is basically his final tournament of the regular season was great to see.”
Despite the 1-2 individual finish, the Gators couldn’t hold off North Florida, which rallied with a final round of 278 for an 18-under 846, one stroke better than the Gators, who totaled 286 in the final round. Four members of the North Florida team finished in the Top 10.
“It’s always disappointing to lose and to lose by one shot is even tougher to take,” Alexander said. “I have to tip my hat to North Florida, which played a great round today. They came and got us more than we gave it to them, which is something positive. It was a positive week for us in light of the fact that we struggled in our last couple tournaments. The quality of golf we played was far better than it has been so hopefully that will give us a boost heading into the SEC Championship.”
Junior Bank Vongvanij finished third among teammates and tied for 17th overall with a final score of 217 (72-72-73, +1). Freshman Phillip Choi shot a 1-under-par 71 for a 220 total, good for a tie for 28th place. Fellow freshman Tommy Mou finished in a tie for 62nd with a 228 (75-75-78, +12).
The Gators will travel to Sea Island, Ga. for the 2010 SEC Championship next. The tournament is April 16-18.
THE BANCORPSOUTH INTERCOLLEGIATE
At par-72, 7,305-yard Reunion Golf & Country Club, Madison, Miss.
TEAM SCORES: 1. (23) North Florida 846 (286-282-278) (-18); 2. (10) Florida 847 (272-289-286) (-17); 3. (44) Mississippi 861 (281-285-295) (-3); 4. (106) Memphis 872 (293-287-292) (+8); T5. (102) Louisiana Tech 874 (286-289-299) (+10) and (98) Southern Mississippi 874 (287-293-294) (+10); T7. (50) UCF 876 (292-292-292) (+12) and (89) South Alabama 876 (300-290-286) (+12); 9. (62) Vanderbilt 878 (291-294-293) (+14); 10. (52) Rice 879 (298-288-293) (+15); 11. (93) Santa Clara 883 (290-303-290) (+19); 12. (39) Southeastern Louisiana 886 (299-297-290) (+22); 13. (113) UAB 891 (295-291-305) (+27); 14. (114) Mississippi State 906 (299-299-308) (+42); 15. (258) Jackson State 939 (311-306-322) (+75).
TOP 10 (and ties) SCORES: 1. (32) Tyson Alexander (Florida) 205 (64-71-70) (-11); 2. (69) Tim McKenney (Florida) 206 (63-71-72) (-10); 3. (115) Scott Travers (Santa Clara) 210 (69-73-68) (-6); T4. (261) Jordan Gibb (North Florida) 211 (71-69-71) (-5) and (170) J.C. Horne (North Florida) 211 (69-73-69) (-5); 6. (20) Sean Dale (North Florida) 212 (75-68-69) (-4); T7. (302) John Darby (UAB) 213 (73-71-69) (-3) and (65) Pete Kellermann (Mississippi) 213 (68-71-74) (-3); 9. (74) Kevin Phelan (North Florida) 214 (71-72-71) (-2); T10. (275) Paul Apyan (Southern Mississippi) 215 (68-76-71) (-1) and (245) Christopher Brown (Rice) 215 (70-70-75) (-1).
FLORIDA SCORES: 1. (32) Tyson Alexander 205 (64-71-70) (-11); 2. (69) Tim McKenney 206 (63-71-72) (-10); T17. (106) Bank Vongvanij 217 (72-72-73) (+1); T28. (111) Phillip Choi 220 (73-76-61) (+4); T62. Tommy Mou 228 (75-75-78) (+12).