CLEMSON, S.C. — Colin Salema had a final round two-under-par 70 to finish third individually and lead Clemson to the championship of the Marquette Invitational at Erin Hills on Tuesday. It was the Tigers first tournament victory of the year and the fourth under head coach Jordan Byrd.
The Tigers recorded a wire-to-wire victory at the difficult Erin Hills Golf Club that has been the host of the Women’s US Open, the Men’s US Open and the Men’s US Amateur. With the victory in the 14-team field, Clemson is now 42-9-2 against the field through four tournaments. Clemson will conclude its fall schedule October 24-26 at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in Alpharetta, GA.
Clemson won the tournament with a 20-over-par team score of 892, three shots ahead of San Diego State and six shots better than 10th-ranked Florida and 16th ranked Texas A&M, who tied for third. Oral Roberts was fifth at +32 and host school Marquette was sixth at +35.
The Erin Hills course was difficult for the 89-player field as the average player score for the tournament was 77.12. Clemson’s 20-over-par team score was the highest vs. par for the Tigers in a tournament championship performance since Clemson won the 2003 national championship with a +39 at Oklahoma State.
“We proved we can win a tournament on a tough golf course,” said Byrd. “We only had seven doubles or worse for the tournament. I was proud of how the guys took a bogey when they needed to, and bounced back from a bogey to make birdie.” Clemson players had a bounce back birdie seven times in the tournament.
“I was very proud of freshman Sam Duran today. He was one-under-par after 12 holes and finished with a 74. He was a difference maker in us winning this tournament today.”
Clemson had a 14-shot lead at one point on the front nine, but San Diego State and Florida challenged on the back nine. Salema and Thomas Higgins both made short birdie putts on the par five 18th to give the Tigers the three-shot win.
Salema was the only Tiger under par in the final round, one of just eight players in the 89 player field to break par on Tuesday. The native of Mathews, SC had rounds of 75-72-70 to finish at one-ove- par 217. He finished third behind San Diego State’s Tyler Kowak (-2) and Florida’s Jack Turner (-). It was Salema’s first career top 10 thanks to a Clemson team best 11 birdies and team best 3.97 stroke average on par four holes.
Rich Wills and Thomas Higgins…
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