Hrynewich, Mueller Post Top-20 Finishes in Puerto Rico

Tuesday, February 24

Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

8:00 AM AT

Michigan

Puerto Rico Classic

Hrynewich, Mueller Post Top-20 Finishes in Puerto Rico

2/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

Feb. 24, 2015

Reed Hrynewich

• Notes & Quotes

Site: Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Course: River Course at Rio Mar Country Club (par 72, 6,945 yards)
Tournament: Puerto Rico Classic
U-M Team Standing: 7th Place of 15 Teams (296-288-290/874)
Top U-M Individual: Reed Hrynewich, tie-14th (75-67-73/215, -1)
Next U-M Event: Fri-Sat., March 6-7 -- host Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (Scottsdale, Ariz.)

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico -- With a pair of top-20 individual finishes, the University of Michigan men's golf team posted an 874 total to close seventh today (Tuesday, Feb. 24) at Puerto Rico Classic held at the Rio Mar Country Club's River Course.

In U-M's 13 consecutive appearance in Purdue's annual spring event, Kyle Mueller guided U-M in Sunday's (Feb. 22) opening round as he posted the Wolverines' top round of the day with a one-under 71, which included five birdies. Tom Swanson carded an even-par 72 to get the Maize and Blue to a 296 and the seventh-place position among the 15 team field that featured 13 of the top 100 teams in the nation.

In Monday' (Feb. 23) second round, Reed Hrynewich took over as his six-birdie performance led to a career-best five-under 67; his round tied two others as the day's lowest round. After opening with an 81, Chris O'Neill rebounded in the second round, dropping 10 strokes as he fired his first of his two straight one-under 71s to give U-M two sub-par rounds on the day. Adding an even-par 72 from Mueller, U-M finished with an even par 288 to maintain its seventh position on the leaderboard.

In today's final round, the Wolverines started off the back nine and got off to a solid start, holding a one-over team score as they made the turn to the front. The River Course's opening three holes were not kind as U-M played them at seven over par to slip back all the way to 11th place. Back-to-back birdies from Swanson and Brett McIntosh on Nos. 4 and 5 helped the Wolverines rally back in the final round as they closed with a two-over 290 total.

Individually, Hrynewich's first career sub-par 54 tournament total of one-under 215 (75-67-73) gave him his third career top-20 finish as he tied for 14th to lead U-M for the first time in his career. After a strong start, Mueller posted his third top-20 performance of the season, tying for 17th at even-par 216 (71-72-73). Rebounding from his opening 81, O'Neill tied for 37th at 223 (81-71-71). Rounding out U-M's starters were Swanson finishing 44th at 224 (72-78-74) and McIntosh tying for 58th at 230 (78-79-73).

The Wolverines return to Ann Arbor for the remainder of the week before heading to Arizona this Saturday (Feb. 28) for their annual spring break training. At the conclusion of the week, U-M will host the 2015 Desert Mountain Intercollegiate Friday and Saturday (March 6-7) at the Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The two-day, 54-hole event will be played on the Outlaw Course and feature a 12-team field.

Final Team Standings

 1. Georgia                280-281-291 = 852 (-12) 2. Georgia Tech           292-274-293 = 859 3. Alabama                285-297-283 = 865    Oklahoma               291-290-284 = 865 5. Purdue                 298-284-285 = 867 6. Clemson                288-290-295 = 873 7. MICHIGAN               296-288-290 = 874 8. Virginia Tech          287-300-290 = 877 9. North Carolina         301-290-290 = 88110. N.C. State             303-299-286 = 88811. UNC Greensboro         298-294-297 = 889    East Tennessee State   299-293-297 = 88913. Minnesota              296-301-297 = 89414. Tulsa                  304-296-299 = 899    Nebraska               296-302-301 = 899

Top Individuals

 1. Dru Love, Alabama              71-69-69 = 209 (-7)    Scott Vincent, Virginia Tech   67-74-68 = 209 3. Billy Kennerly, Clemson        70-70-70 = 210 4. Robby Shelton, Alabama         69-71-71 = 211    Sepp Straka, Georgia           69-70-72 = 211    Lee McCoy, Georgia             71-68-72 = 211 7. Grant Hirschman, Oklahoma      69-74-69 = 212    Miller Capps, Clemson          69-70-73 = 212    Matt Mabrey, Tulsa             71-74-67 = 212

Michigan Individuals

T14. Reed Hrynewich   75-67-73 = 215 (-1)T17. Kyle Mueller     71-72-73 = 216 (E)T37. Chris O'Neill    81-71-71 = 223 44. Tom Swanson      72-78-74 = 224T58. Brett McIntosh   78-79-73 = 230

N O T E S

• Michigan finished the weekend playing the four par 5s at 20-under par and averaged 4.50. The Wolverines tallied 49 total birdies, led by Kyle Mueller's 14. Reed Hrynewich was second with 11, Tom Swanson had 10, Chris O'Neill had eight (as well as one eagle), and Brett McIntosh had six.

• Chris O'Neill highlighted his second round eagling the par-5 eighth hole (547 yards). After using a driver and 3-iron, he used his wedge from 65 yards away to land six feet short of the pin and watched it roll in for the eagle.

• Reed Hrynewich finished as the top Wolverine for the first time in his career. He added his first sub-par 54-hole tournament tally with his one-under 215. Hrynewich is the first golfer other than Chris O'Neill and Kyle Mueller to lead U-M at an event this season.

• In the second round, Reed Hrynewich posted a career-best single-round tally with his five-under 67. He posted six birdies, one bogey and 11 pars en route to the career-round tally. The round topped his prior best of three-under 68 fired in the first round of the 2014 NYX Hoosier Invitational (April 12-13).

• With his one-under 71 in the first round, Kyle Mueller maintain his team lead for most sub-par rounds as he has six total of his 18 this season. Chris O'Neill had back-to-back one-under 71s in the second and third rounds to bring his season total to five.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Chris Whitten
On the tournament weekend ... "The guys played solid all week. The course is really split in half with one side that I feel plays a little bit easier and the other side where the potential for higher scores is there a couple of holes in a row. You really just have to be confident and take good shots. So, we were still hitting good shots, but had to finish some of the tougher holes today. And, we probably didn't make as many birdies in this round as you really needed to make a big jump. Overall, the guys helped position and played solid golf."

On playing the par 5s so well this weekend ... "It's really no different than a normal event. The par-5s always play the most under par in any of the holes. We have a team that is set up to do that. We have a pretty long hitting team. Those holes set up well for us this week."

On the play of Reed Hrynewich ... "Reed is really striking the ball well. He is hitting it in play off of the tee on every hole and giving himself a chance with his iron and his putter. Even when you are rolling the ball well, it does not always mean that it is going to go in. So, yesterday he got some to drop. Today, he probably played just as nicely, but they were not falling today. But his game is looking really good."

On the improved play of Chris O'Neill, after his opening 81 ... "Chris made a decision in off season to really work on his golf swing to build some consistency. So these are the first tournament rounds he has had to go out and see what it does under pressure. And we are learning as we go. He made some adjustments obviously, and in day two and three he really hit the ball great. Not that you ever want to play a bad round, but I think what he learned from that is going to help us for the rest of spring. So, I think he feels pretty good about things."

On his early impressions of the spring season after two events ... "I would say it has been very solid. We have played to the level of other very, very good teams that we have seen and I like what I have seen so far. There is a long way to go on the spring and a lot of opportunities to prove ourselves and keep getting better."

Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423