STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Penn State men's golf team surged to its sixth-straight Rutherford Intercollegiate championship Sunday with a 7-under 277 in the final round. Three Nittany Lions had three birdies each on their final seven holes during a pivotal stretch that allowed Penn State to capture and hold onto the lead.
"First off, we want acknowledge the excellent play deep into our tournament field on a tough golf course set up and weather conditions," said Penn State men's golf head coach Greg Nye. "We prevailed in the end with a late surge of quality play. Patrick (Sheehan) and Ryan (Davis) both scoring 33s on the back nine with other key play from the other three turned the tide for us. I also want to acknowledge the quality play we saw in our individuals. It was a happy day for us!"
Sophomore Patrick Sheehan (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) carded a 5-under 66 in the final round, a career low, and was second with a career-best 5-under 208 (72-70-66) for the tournament. Sheehan, who had six total birdies on Sunday, made the turn at 3-under and accelerated into the final stretch for his score.
"Coach Ziccardi and I couldn't be more pleased to see Patrick play the way he did this week," Nye said. "He has put in the right work and this finish was a product of his efforts and ability."
Sheehan finished behind individual champion Evan Brown of Loyola (Maryland) who set the Rutherford Intercollegiate record for the par-213 layout with his 11-under 202.
Graduate student Ryan Davis (Berkeley Heights, New Jersey) rebounded with a 3-under 68 in the final round, and 2-under 211 for the event, to move up five spots to eighth. Graduate student Alec Bard (New Hartford, New York) tied for 16th with a 217 (4-over, 70-73-74).
Sophomore Jimmy Meyers (Wexford, Pennsylvania) had his best tournament showing in the starting five with a 219 (6-over, 76-72-71) and tied his career low in the final round (71) for 25th. Senior Lou Olsakovsky (Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania) finished the Rutherford with back-to-back scores of 72 for a 220 total (76-72-72) and 30th place.
Playing as an individual, freshman James Allen (Scarsdale, New York) tied for fourth in his first collegiate tournament with a 3-under 210 (69-70-71). Senior James McHugh (Rye, New York) recorded his best tournament ranking with his tie for 12th and was one stroke off his career low with a 216 (3-over, 69-74-73). Ben Smith (Blain, Pennsylvania) tied with McHugh for 12th with his best outing to date with a 3-over 216 (71-71-74) as he had back-to-back career-low rounds on Saturday.
Senior Lukas Clark (Holland, Pennsylvania) finished at 219 (6-over, 74-70-75) for 25th place and junior Ryan Lee (Norwood, New Jersey) tallied his best Rutherford Intercollegiate score with a 222 (9-over, 72-77-73) to tie for 39th.
No. 38 Kent State and Loyola (Maryland) tied for second in the field of 14 after a tightly contested day Saturday that witnessed only 10 strokes separating the top six teams after two rounds.
The Nittany Lions head to Columbus, Ohio, to play in the Kepler Intercollegiate Saturday-Sunday, April 24-25 on Ohio State's Scarlet Course.
