Second-Nine Surge Lifts No. 21 Baylor Men's Golf to a Tie for Sixth at the Cabo Collegiate

LOS CABOS, Mexico – Baylor men’s golf put together a 19-over 871 to finish tied for sixth with No. 19 Arizona at the Cabo Collegiate on Tuesday at the Twin Dolphin Club.

Johnny Keefer secured his second top-10 of the spring with a 1-under 212, highlighted by a 3-under 68 in the final round. At the same event where he shot a school record 63 in the final round last year, Keefer made five birdies on the back nine to notch his 12th-career top 10.

No. 1 Vanderbilt ran away with the team title shooting an 18-under 834, 12 shots ahead of second-place Ole Miss who recorded a 6-under 846. Wells Williams of Vandy won the individual title with a 10-under 203, five shots in front of Ole Miss’ Brett Schell.

THE RUNDOWN

Keefer started on the back nine and made an early bogey at No. 12, before getting the stroke back with a birdie at No. 14. The senior closed his front nine with a pair of bogeys at Nos. 17 and 18 to make the turn at 2-over. Keefer got right to work on his second nine with a birdie at No. 1 before adding four more at Nos. 3, 5, 6 and 8 to polish off a 5-under 30 on his inward half.

Drew Wrightson finished off a strong showing with a 1-under 70 on Tuesday. Starting on No. 12, the sophomore made an early birdie at No. 13 and then added another at No. 16. He made his first bogey of the day at No. 17, but got the stroke back with a birdie at No. 1, to finish his front nine at 2-under. Wrightson played his final nine at 1-over with bogeys at Nos. 4 and 7 around a birdie at No. 5 to secure a tie for 23rd.

Trey Bosco finished tied for 38th after a 3-over 74 in the final round. Bosco started 2-under with a pair of early birdies at Nos. 13 and 14. He dropped back to even-par with bogeys at Nos. 15 and 18 en route to an even-par outward nine. Back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5, followed by a double-bogey at No. 7, dropped the senior to four over on the day. Bosco closed his round playing his final three holes under par with a birdie at No. 8.

Tyler Isenhart shot a 5-over 76 to finish in a tie for 48th on Tuesday. The senior made a pair of bogeys early in his round at Nos. 15 and 16 and would finish his outward nine at 2-over. He made a birdie on his 10th hole of the day at No. 5, but followed with a triple-bogey seven at No. 6 and bogeys at Nos. 8 and 10. Isenhart closed the round on a high note with a birdie at No. 11.

Luke Dossey finished tied for 58th in his first start in the lineup this spring. After four pars to open the round, Dossey made bogeys on four of his next five hole to fall to five over on his opening nine. The senior played his inward nine at even par with a pair of bogeys at Nos. 7 and 11 with a pair of birdies at Nos. 9 and 12.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bears finished 5-4-1 against top 25 teams, its best showing of the season against ranked opponents.
• BU led the field in Par-3 scoring this week at 3.15.
• Johnny Keefer and Tyler Isenhart played the par-3’s under par for the week, making BU the only school with multiple players under par on the par-3’s.
• With nine rounds at par or better this season, Keefer tied Luke Dossey and Tyler Isenhart for the team lead.
• Keefer now has 12-career top-10 finishes, moving him into 12th place on Baylor’s all-time list.
• Drew Wrightson played the par-5s at 7-under for the week, which tied for the best in the field.

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Mike McGraw on the strong finish: “I asked the guys to climb the leaderboard today and they did just that. I’m happy with our finish after struggling yesterday.”

WHAT'S NEXT

The Bears will return to the Lone Star State for the Aggie Invitational April 10-11 at Traditions Golf Club in College Station. For more information on Baylor Men’s Golf, follow @BaylorMGolf on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.