Michigan Places Fourth at Rod Myers Invitational

Monday, October 11

Durham, N.C.

8:00 AM

Michigan

Rod Myers Invitational

10/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

Oct. 11, 2010

• Notes & Quotes

Site: Durham, N.C.
Course: Duke Golf Club (par 72, 7,136 yards)
Tournament: Rod Myers Invitational (Day 2 of 2)
U-M Standing: 4th Place of 12 Teams (282-293-286/861)
Top U-M Individual: Lion Kim, tie-5th (72-69-72/213)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sun., Oct. 15-17 -- at The Ridges Intercollegiate (Johnsonville, Tenn.)

DURHAM, N.C. -- The University of Michigan men's golf team secured a fourth-place finish this afternoon (Monday, Oct. 11) at the two-day Rod Myers Invitational at the Duke University Golf Club.

On Sunday (Oct. 10), Michigan kicked off the tournament with the second-best opening round in the field, carding a six-under 282 that featured four under-par rounds. The Wolverines fell back to fourth after a second-round 293 but put up the second-best round of the day on Monday, firing a two-under 286. Only Duke's score of 285 bested U-M in the final round.

Senior Lion Kim (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Mary Prep School) finished in the top five for the second straight tournament. Two weeks after winning the Windon Memorial, Kim came back and tied for fifth with a three-round total of 213 (72-69-72). His second-round 69 featured four birdies and a bogey. He finished two shots behind Albin Choi of North Carolina State for the individual crown.

Junior Matt Thompson (Battle Creek, Mich./Lakeview HS) recorded his second straight top-20 finish as rounds of 71-73-73 tied him for 17th place. Sophomore Rahul Bakshi (Chandigarh, India/St. John's HS) set a new career best with his tie for 26th, birdieing 17 and 18 in the final round to finish with a two-under-par 70. He also opened the tournament with a 70 and posted a 219 total (70-79-70).

Sophomore Miguel Echavarria (Medellin, Colombia/The Columbus School) played as an individual and posted a career-best 68 in the second round and tied for 32nd place (79-68-74/221). He had three birdies, an eagle and a bogey for the Maize and Blue's second-lowest round of the season. Freshman Joey Garber (Petoskey, Mich./Petoskey) and sophomore Jack Schultz (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay HS) both tied for 37th place. Garber posted a one-under 71 in both the first and third rounds that bookended a second-round 80. Schultz had a 70 and 72 in the first two rounds, which put him in a tie for ninth place, but he finished with a final-round 80 for a 222 score.

The Wolverines will head right back out to the links to compete in their fourth tournament of the season, The Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Ridges. The tournament will take place this Friday through Sunday (Oct. 15-17) in Johnsonville, Tenn.

Final Team Standings

 1. Iowa                       277-286-288 = 851 (-13) 2. North Carolina State       283-286-287 = 856 3. Charlotte                  285-287-288 = 860 4. MICHIGAN                   282-293-286 = 861 5. Duke                       291-290-285 = 866 6. Minnesota                  288-294-292 = 874 7. Tulsa                      295-284-296 = 875 8. UNC Greensboro             298-279-299 = 876 9. East Tennessee State       296-291-290 = 87710. Middle Tennessee State     288-291-300 = 87911. Rice                       297-301-293 = 89112. VCU                        301-299-296 = 896

Top Individuals

 1. Albin Choi, N.C. State        69-71-71 = 211 (-5) 2. Donald Constable, Minnesota   69-73-70 = 212    Brad Hopfinger, Iowa          71-69-72 = 212    Michael Whitehead, Rice       68-71-73 = 212 5. Lion Kim, U-M                 72-69-72 = 213    Arie Fauzi, Tulsa             72-67-74 = 213    Vince India, Iowa             76-68-69 = 213    Devin Komline, ETSU           73-73-67 = 213    Jason Millard, MTSU           69-73-71 = 213    Mitchell Sutton, N.C. State   70-72-71 = 213

Other Michigan Individuals

T17. Matt Thompson         71-73-73 = 217T26. Rahul Bakshi          70-79-70 = 219T32. Miguel Echavarria     79-68-74 = 221*T37. Joey Garber           71-80-71 = 222T37. Jack Schultz          70-72-80 = 222 * playing as individual

• Previous Results: Day One

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Andrew Sapp
On the team's performance in the final round ... "We played well but gave the guys in front of us a little too much of a lead to be able to catch anybody. Shooting two under par today with a good final round was great. I think only one team played better than we did today, but we hurt ourselves obviously in the second round. Everybody had some good rounds this week, which was nice to see some under par scores."

On Lion's performance this week ... "Lion did a nice job all week. I know he is probably extremely disappointed that he didn't win, because he made a couple of bogeys down the stretch, but a top-five finish in this field is a good finish. I know he expects more than that, but he definitely led our team again this week."

On playing in another competitive field at the Ridges next week ... "I took my first Michigan team there about eight years ago. It's a great golf course, an excellent test and another good field ahead of us. We're going to go to class for a couple of days, make up some tests and get back on an airplane to head down to Tennessee for another good tournament."

N O T E S

• The Rod Myers Invitational was played at the Duke University Golf Club, which was the site of the 1962 and 2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championships.

• Lion Kim earned his fifth career top-five finish with his performance at the Rod Myers Invitational. Kim also now has 35 rounds under par in his U-M career.

• Rahul Bakshi tied his low round at Michigan with two-under par 70s in the first and third rounds. His tie for 26th place also is a career best.

• The first-round score of 282 tied a season best for the Wolverines. U-M also shot a 282 in the final round of the Windon Memorial.

• All five Wolverines had two rounds that counted in the team scores.

• Miguel Echavarria's 68 in the second round was a career best by four strokes. He had a 72 in the second round of the Wolverine at Radrick Farms during his freshman season.

• The field at the Rod Myers Invitational featured two teams (Duke and Iowa) ranked in the top 20 of the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches' Poll. It also featured 10 teams that advanced to last year's NCAA Regionals.

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423