Horsfield Tops Leaderboard for Gators at Southern Highlands

Wednesday, March 8

Las Vegas, NV

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Florida Gators

Southern Highlands

Sam Horsfield carded four birdies Wednesday to finish two-under and in a tie for 12th.

Horsfield Tops Leaderboard for Gators at Southern Highlands

Wednesday, March 8, 2017 | Men's Golf

By: Turner F. Street

LAS VEGAS – The University of Florida men's golf team finished the Southern Highlands Collegiate on Wednesday by carding a one-over, 289. That tally pushed the Gators total score of 884 (+20) and landed the team in ninth place.

For the second day in a row, Sam Horsfield led the Gators as he picked up four birdies on his way to a two-under 70 on Wednesday. The sophomore finished the tournament at two-under and in a tie for 12^th place.

Freshman Andy Zhang also saw success in the third round, carding five birdies, including three in a row to start the back nine. The other three players in the lineup all tallied three birdies, respectively.

USC took home the team title for the second year in a row, carding a final round of 284 (-4) to finish at 853 (-11). After shooting a final round 68 (-4), Oklahoma's Grant Hirschman prevailed in a playoff to take home the individual medalist honors with a final score of 210 (-6).

The Gators are back in action at the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga., on March 17.

Head Coach J.C. Deacon
On if he saw improvement from his team in the third round…
"Yeah, so much better. The overall atmosphere around the guys and their attitudes and demeanors were awesome. It was just a pleasure to watch them play, support each other and be enthusiastic with each other. We had a really good day today that was very competitive against the best teams in the country."

On Sam Horsfield's play in the tournament…
"He's really playing solid golf. He didn't putt very well this week and that's a testament for him to still be able to shoot two under-par on that tough golf course without putting his best. Once he gets that putter going, like we all know he can, it is going to be scary the numbers he's going to put up. He's one of the best putters in the world."

On what the team can take from the Southern Highlands Collegiate into the rest of its season…
"Yesterday really needed to happen. The guys woke up to some of the issues that we're suffering from and now we know and we're going to be able to make corrections. Everyone is on board, all 11 of us players and coaches. I'm really excited about the rest of the year and the lessons that we're going to take from our trip to Las Vegas."

Rd. 3 Florida Scores
Team:

Place	Team	Score	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
1	USC	-11	278	291	284	853
2	Oklahoma State	-1	286	289	288	863
3	Texas Tech	+3	293	287	287	867
T4	Pepperdine	+9	282	297	294	873
T4	Stanford	+9	281	294	298	873
6	UNLV	+10	288	292	294	874
7	Oklahoma	+11	292	297	286	875
8	Illinois	+12	290	297	289	876
9	FLORIDA	+20	292	303	289	884
10	SMU	+23	287	296	304	887
11	Arizona State	+31	304	296	295	895
12	California	+33	292	303	302	897
13	New Mexico	+34	296	296	306	898
14	TCU	+37	294	296	311	901
15	San Diego State	+41	307	300	298	905

Players:

Place	Player	Score	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total
T12.	Sam Horsfield	-2	73	71	70	214
T32.	Alejandro Tosti	+6	71	79	72	222
T36.	Andy Zhang	+8	76	76	72	224
T53.	Gordon Neale	+11	74	78	75	227
T53.	Ryan Celano	+11	74	78	75	227
T71.	Jorge Garcia*	+20	79	78	78	236