Last time we saw out heroes...
The boys headed down to our unofficial 51st state for a little island time against some of the top teams in the country at the Puerto Rico Classic at the Rio Mar Resort.
On Day one, the youth movement that took over in the fall held serve in the first round of the spring as sophomores Sarut Vongchaisit and Jackson Suber and Freshmen Veeti Mahonen led the the Rebels in the scoring column. “Root” paced the squad with a -2 (70) while Suber and the young Finnish assassin Mahonen came in at -1 (71).
The team finished the day at even par and a 7th place slotting after Charlie Miller and Brody Blackmon both came in with +4 (76).
Day two saw the top teams in the field separate from the pack and the Rebs did their best to maintain positioning with the leaders. The team got -2 (70) rounds from a trio of Rebels. Brody Balckmon, Charlie Miller, and Jackson Suber all led the team, resulting in a -6 team score for the day. After Day two, six of the seven nationally-ranked teams in the field made up the upper tier of the leaderboard. The Rebels found themselves firmly in that 6th position, eight shots clear of their next closest competitor.
Day three was much of the same scoring consistency from the Rebels. Sarut Vongchaisit again led the team with a -3 (69). Charlie Miller and Jackson Suber backed the scoring up with -1 and even par rounds of their own. With a -2 total on the final day, the Rebels maintained their 6th place finish with an -8 score for the week, going par or better on all three days. Individually, Vongchaisit was the Ole Miss leader, finishing in a tie for 21st. Miller clocked in with a T-28 finish, and Jackson Suber came in at T-32.
Great ️ days in Puerto Rico
— Ole Miss Men’s Golf (@OleMissMGolf) February 19, 2020
Time to get back to work and prep for Cabo ➡️#HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/fRZiKZOUDg
Sixth place may seem a little underwhelming until you consider the rest of the field. The tournament was won by No. 3 Georgia Tech with a combined score of -32 and No. 2 Oklahoma finished second at -30.
All six places at the top of the leaderboard were filled by teams ranked in the national Top 50. Ole Miss finished eight shots clear of the 7th placed team. Overall, the squad did what they should do, finish on the top end of the leaderboard with the other ranked teams and finish ahead of all the unranked teams.
This Week’s Tournament: The Cabo Collegiate, hosted by the University of Arkansas.
Cabo, the Northwest Arkansas of Mexico!
When: March 1-3
Where: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
The Course: Cabo Del Sol — Ocean Course
The Jack Nicklaus design is ranked as the 70th greatest golf course in the world by Golf Digest. The push for 69 begins now!
The Rebels:
Your 30th ranked Ole Miss Rebels
Jackson Suber (Soph., Tampa, FL): T-32 at Puerto Rico. Had an easy Top-15 in his sights until a snowman in the middle of his final round. Still the bell cow for the team. Ranked 66th nationally as an individual.
Sarut Vongchaisit (Soph., Bangkok, Thailand): Super solid week for Root. Led the team in scoring two of the three rounds in Puerto Rico. Finished with another Top-25.
Charlie Miller (Soph., Jackson, MS): Got the start in the first tournament of the Spring after an up and down Fall. Two of three days under par in Puerto Rico got him a T-28 finish.
Veeti Mahonen (Freshmen, Kirkkonummi, Finland): Started off strong in Puerto Rico but faded a bit down the stretch. He’s a freshmen, its golf, it happens. Finished T-37.
Brody Blackmon (Senior, Sulpher Springs, TX): The Senior got the start in his final semester campaign. Picked up the team with a -2 score in the second round when it was much needed. Finished T-50.
The Field: No. 36 Arkansas, No. 46 Houston, No. 49 Florida State, No. 29 Vandy, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 24 Oklahoma State, No. 23 LSU, Stanford, No. 35 Alabama, No. 13 Baylor, No. 27 Cal, No. 11 Arizona, Rice, No. 10 Arizona State (so yeah, stacked field)
The top individuals who will be playing for second: No. 11 John Pak — FSU, No. 16 Cooper Dossey — Baylor, No. 20 Austin Ekroat — Oklahoma State, No. 22 Trevor Werbylo, No. 31 William Pays — Texas A&M, No. 32 John Augenstein — Vanderbilt, No. 41 Walker Lee — Texas A&M, No. 43 Finigan Tilly — Cal, No. 46 William Buhl — Arkansas
Where to follow: Golfstat and Ole Miss Golf Twitter are your go to sources to follow the action
Next Up: The Hootie at Bulls Bay. Download Cracked Rearview on Spotify and lets get after it!