Pepperdine hangs on for Warrior Princeville title
Josh McCarthy (Pepperdine Athletics photo)
PRINCEVILLE, Kauai (Oct. 30, 2018) – Three eleventh-hour birdies made all the difference for Pepperdine at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational. The Waves earned their second tournament title of the season when they ground out a two-shot win over Missouri.
Pepperdine won the event at Princeville Makai Golf Course wire to wire. The team had a slim lead after each of the first two rounds, but Missouri simply outpaced Pepperdine on the final day. The Tigers, in their last tournament on the road before returning to the Midwest for a cold offseason, went 11 under (277) in their final round and got to 26 under for the tournament. With a final round of 9-under 279, Pepperdine was only barely able to stay ahead. The win was thanks in large part to final-hole birdies from Joshua McCarthy, RJ Manke and Joe Highsmith.
Only Louisville scored better in the final round, turning in a 16-under 272 that was the best 18-hole score among all 20 teams in the field. Louisville moved up two spots to third, one shot behind Missouri. CSU Fullerton and Alabama-Birmingham were both fourth at 19 under.
The Waves won despite claiming only one player in the top 20. That player was McCarthy, who was third at 13 under. All five Pepperdine players finished under par for the tournament.
“I’m proud of how our guys competed this week,” Pepperdine head coach Michael Beard said. “It was very tight down the stretch and it was great to see Joe, RJ and Josh clutch up. Everyone contributed, which kept us in it. It’s a great team win.”
McNeese State’s Blake Elliott won the individual title with rounds of 68-68-67. At 18 under, Elliott was three ahead of runner-up John Murphy of Louisville, who charged with a final-round 65 on Wednesday.
Information from Pepperdine Athletics used in this report
ABOUT THE
Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational
54 hole men's college tournament hosted by the
University of Hawaii. Team (best four scores out of five
players each round) and individual competitions.
View Complete Tournament Information