ORLANDO – Senior Bank Vongvanij came back from 22nd place after the first round to take the individual title Tuesday at the Isleworth Invitational. Vongvanij’s performance helped the Gators to a third-place finish in the event.
With the win, Vongvanij became the first Florida men’s golfer to win the title. Billy Horschel recorded the previous high finish in 2006 when he tied for second.
Vongvanij started the round with four birdies in the first nine holes. He carded another birdie on hole 14 before making a double bogey on the 15th hole, but followed it with another birdie. He shot even par on the last two holes to finish with a 4-under-par 68, a 54-hole total of 4-under-par 212 and a two-shot victory over Tennessee’s Robin Wingardh.
“Bank’s finish today was well deserved,” Florida coach Buddy Alexander said. “He has worked harder than anyone else this year and we are very proud of him.”
Sophomore Phillip Choi started the day tied for 29th and made five birdies and three bogeys to finish with a 2-under-par 70 and a three-day total of 4-over-par 220 that left him tied for eighth.
Sophomores Tyler McCumber and Tommy Mou finished tied for 37th and 51st places, respectively, while junior Michael Furci finished in a tie for 57th.
Alabama held on to its first-place lead after two rounds to win the team title. It marked the first time this season the Gators have finished behind the Crimson Tide, who totaled 884, two shots better than Louisiana State. Florida finished at 894 and shared third place with Stanford.
“I am proud of our guys for finishing in the top three in all of our fall tournaments,” Alexander said. “We certainly have some things to work on, but I have seen some really good things and I am very excited about the spring.”
The Gators will resume play in the spring semester at the JU Invitational in Jacksonville on Feb. 1-2.
ISLEWORTH COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL
Isleworth Country Club (7,544 yards, par 72) / Orlando, Fla. / Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010 / Third-round results
The number in front of school and individual is their Golfweek/Sagarin ranking:
Team scores: 1. (4) Alabama 884 (291-292-301) (+20); 2. (13) Louisiana State 886 (293-294-299) (+22); 3T. (3) Florida 894 (305-290-299) (+30) and (17) Stanford 894 (290-297-307) (+30); 5T. (99) Texas Christian 895 (290-299-306) (+31) and (2) Oklahoma State 895 (298-297-300) (+31); 7. (19) Texas Tech 896 (297-300-299) (+32); 8. (23) Ohio State 900 (299-307-294) (+36); 9. (6) Texas 904 (309-297-298) (+40); 10. (36) UCF 907 (307-294-306) (+43); 11T. (58) Tennessee 908 (309-294-305) (+44) and (10) Georgia 908 (304-301-303) (+44); 13. (80) Southern Methodist 915 (301-307-307) (+51); 14. (71) Vanderbilt 923 (298-302-323) (+59); 15. (82) Arizona 932 (302-315-315) (+68).
Top 10 individuals: 1. (4) Bank Vongvanij (Florida) 212 (74-70-68) (-4); 2. (101) Robin Wingardh (Tennessee) 214 (71-68-75) (-2); 3. (80) Morgan Hoffmann (Oklahoma State) 216 (71-71-74) (E); 4. (3) Andrew Yun (Stanford) 217 (71-70-76) (+1); 5T. (119) Andrew Loupe (Louisiana State) 218 (70-73-75) (+2) and (76) Cory Whitsett (Alabama) 218 (71-74-73) (+2); 7. (9) Kevin Tway (Oklahoma State) 219 (73-71-75) (+3); 8T. (84) Phillip Choi (Florida) 220 (78-72-70) (+4), (53) Bo Hoag (Ohio State) 220 (71-76-73) (+4) and (134) Tarquin Macmanus (Arizona) 220 (69-76-75) (+4).
Florida 894 (+30): 1. (4) Bank Vongvanij 212 (74-70-68) (-4); 8T. (84) Phillip Choi 220 (78-72-70) (+4); 37T. (5) Tyler McCumber 229 (76-73-80) (+13); 51T. (127) Tommy Mou 233 (77-75-81) (+17); 57T. (320) Michael Furci 236 (79-76-81) (+20).
GOLF WORLD / NIKE GOLF COACHES POLL
http://gcaa.collegiategolf.com/home.jsp?page=49
GOLFWEEK / SAGARIN RANKINGS
http://www.golfweekrankings.com/ellington/default.asp?t=mt