ATLANTA – Gordon Sargent turned in a 4-under 68 to win the stroke play portion of the East Lake Cup contested Monday at East Lake Golf Club.
The sophomore notched three straight birdies from holes Nos. 5-7 to go out in 33 and went 1-under on the back for a one-stroke win over Pepperdine’s Derek Hitchner and Arizona State’s Luke Potter. Sargent’s only blemish came in the form of a bogey on the par-3 11th.
“I didn’t drive particularly great but kind of kept getting myself back into position,” Sargent told GOLF Channel after the round. “I hit my irons pretty solid, and made a few putts, and limited the mistakes.”
Take a bow, Gordon. 👏 pic.twitter.com/u87VZjCoOh
— Vanderbilt Men’s Golf (@VandyMGolf) October 24, 2022
Sargent was joined in the top 10 by Cole Sherwood, whose even-par 72 was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 14th.
“I’m proud of Gordon and how he competed all day,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “He continues to show why he’s one of the very best players in college golf. I also thought Cole did a good job responding after getting off to a tough start. It’s good for our guys to get to play in a setting like this against great teams. We did a lot of good things, but we simply weren’t as sharp as we’d like to be throughout the lineup.
“We need to be better tomorrow and need to play with a little more sense of urgency. Great competitors and great teams know how to raise their focus to the highest levels. We need to do a better job of that tomorrow and be ready to go from the start and play with passion. Match play is a lot of fun, and we need to have some fun playing to our Vandy golf standards.”
There is long off the tee, and then there is Gordon Sargent.
Next-level distance. pic.twitter.com/A4iyglOzkH
— Vanderbilt Men’s Golf (@VandyMGolf) October 24, 2022
William Moll and Reid Davenport tied for 13th at 2-over and Matthew Riedel was one shot behind for a share of 15th.
Vanderbilt (E) claimed the No. 3 seed for match play among the four-team field and will face second-seeded and defending national champion Texas (-2) in Tuesday’s semifinal match. Top-seeded Arizona State was 7-under through the 18-hole stroke play portion of the event and will matchup with fourth-seeded Pepperdine (+4).
GOLF Channel will have live coverage from 2-5 p.m. CT with live results available at Golfstat.com.
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