Hossler leads men’s golf to runner-up finish at Augusta Invitational

By Steve Lansdale

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Junior Beau Hossler won his fifth tournament of the season and sixth of his career Sunday to lead the No. 1-ranked Texas men’s golf team to a runner-up finish at the Augusta Invitational.

The victory gives Hossler the second-highest total of tournament victories in a single season by any player in the history of the UT program. His sixth career victory ties him with Bob Estes for third place on the program’s all-time list, trailing only[s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level1)] the 16 tournaments won by Ben Crenshaw and the nine won by Justin Leonard.

The Longhorns shot a team total of 279 in the third round, finishing with a three-round team score of 840, three strokes behind No. 2-ranked Illinois. Texas has finished among the top four in all six tournaments this season.

No coach likes to lose, but Texas head coach John Fields said that he was pleased with his team’s balanced performance and that he thinks the Longhorns still have room for improvement.

“Our guys played very solid today,” Fields said. “We are not hitting on all cylinders yet, but that is the goal as we head into postseason. We had four players in the top 13 this week in a field that resembles an NCAA Regional, and today, we had all players at par or better. We know Illinois is a great team. Today, (the Illini) got the better of us.”

With two birdies and an eagle over the last 10 holes, Hossler won the event by two strokes over Tennessee’s Chad Merzbacher. Hossler shot a three-under-par 69 in the third round and finished the three-round tournament with an 11-under total of 205.

Texas sophomore Doug Ghim finished at six under par with a three-round score of 210, tying him for eighth place with Claudio Correa of USF and Andre Garcia of New Mexico. The performance was the second straight top-10 finish for Ghim, who has finished among the top 10 five times this season.

Two other Longhorns finished among the top 15: Taylor Funk fired a three-under 69 to finished in 12^th place at four under par with a three-round score of 212, one stroke better than teammate Gavin Hall, who tied for 13^th place.

“Taylor Funk’s play this week was exceptional, as was Doug Ghim’s,” Fields said. “Beau Hossler, with his fifth collegiate win this year was super solid. We are enjoying this year as a team and aspire for championships.”

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