The Knights edged the Longhorns by one stroke on Sunday to win the invitational.
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There were no green jackets handed out. But UCF picked up a big, momentum-building victory in Augusta on Sunday.
No. 6 UCF entered the final round of the 3M Augusta Invitational tied with No. 19 Texas. The Knights edged the Longhorns by one stroke Sunday at the Forest Hills Golf Club to take the one-shot victory. The Knights topped 13 other squads as well, en route to their second consecutive victory -- and fourth of the season.
The 3M Augusta Invitational featured five Top 20 teams and 12 Top 50 squads, including No. 13 Virginia Tech, No. 9 Illinois and No. 27 Baylor, which rounded out the top five finishers in the event. UCF also defeated No. 8 Houston, No. 22 New Mexico, No. 23 South Carolina, No. 28 Clemson, No. 42 Purdue, No. 43 Tennessee and No. 46 TCU.
“What a fantastic win for UCF,” Knights head coach Bryce Wallor said. “This was clearly the best of the 15-team tournament victories we’ve had in the last five seasons. I’m so proud of the total team effort this week. Every player made an important scoring contribution. This is positive momentum going into the postseason.”
In addition to the Knights’ second consecutive team victory, UCF picked up individual medalist honors at the 3M Augusta Invitational.
After Ricardo Gouveia won last week, senior Greg Eason stepped up this week. Eason was 11-under for the tournament. He opened with a red-hot 66 Saturday to grab the lead and he never relinquished it. Eason followed up with a 71 in the second round and was 4-under with a 68 Sunday. Eason birdied four of the last nine holes Sunday to pull out the win, his six career victory and his second this season.
Gouveia was solid once again this weekend, as well. He finished sixth at 7-under for the tournament. Of the 75 players entered, only seven were under par in each round. Eason and Gouveia were two of them. Gouveia fired a 1-under 71 Sunday.
Senior Kyle Wilshire also managed a top-10 finish. He rebounded from a rocky first-round 75 to post scores of 67 and 70 in the final two rounds. That left Wilshire 4-under for the tournament and tied for eighth.
“Our three seniors stepped up big this week,” Wallor said of Eason, Gouveia and Wilshire.
Freshman Federico Zucchetti and junior Linus Vaisanen rounded out the UCF lineup. Zucchetti tallied a 1-over 73 Sunday to finish 5-over and tied for 40th place. Vaisanen was tied for 63rd, going 10-over for the tournament.
