NORTH PLAINS, Oregon – Penn State finished the 2026 B1G Championships with the third lowest round on Sunday to climb the leaderboard and finish the week seventh in the 18-team field at 16-over, 856, the best finish for the Nittany Lions since coming in fourth in 2018.
The Nittany Lions fired an even-par, 280, on Sunday trailing only Illinois (10-under) and Rutgers (2-under) for the day. After a slow start on Friday, carding 13-over, Penn State used rounds of 3-over and even-par to climb five spots, including four on Sunday alone, over the final 36 holes.
“I’m incredibly proud of how our team battled this week at the Big Ten championship. This was a performance that has been building over the past three months as this team has been coming together and learning how to finish,” commented head coach Mark Leon. “It was incredible to see the boys improve their team score every day and play our best when the pressure was highest.”
UCLA ran away from the field with an 11-under round on Saturday, however, Illinois returned the favor firing 9-under on Sunday and made things close coming down the stretch, but the Bruins prevailed with a four stroke win at 8-under, 832, while the Illini finished the week 4-under, 836.
Washington (5-over), Rutgers (10-over) and USC (14-over) rounded out the top-5 just ahead of the Nittany Lions and Purdue at 14-over.
Alex Creamean was the big mover of the day climbing 36 spots on Sunday after firing a bogey-free, 3-under, 67, following rounds of 74 and 73 to finish the week tied for 23rd at 4-over, 214.
Tim Peters also carded red figures on Sunday with a 1-under, 69, moving up 18 spots and helping the team register it’s even-par round. Peters finished the week tied for 58th.
Andres Barraza had a strong overall weekend opening with back-to-back 71’s followed by a 2-over, 72, on Sunday to finish tied with Creamean at 4-over, 214, and 23rd in the 99-player field.
Will Preston also had a strong showing for the week sandwiching a 1-under, 69, on Saturday between a pair of 72’s to card 3-over, 213, for the week and finish tied for 20th.
Zach Smith subbed in for Nick Werner (13-over) after the opening round and immediately contributed to the team score firing an even-par, 70, on Saturday followed by a 6-over, 76, on Sunday.
“Coming into the tournament we lost our number two player Jackson Saroney to a season ending injury. Watching all five guys step up and shoot monster rounds to fill the massive void the Jackson left — frankly it left me speechless. It’s the proudest I’ve been as the Coach of Penn State, and it’s a testament to the growth and development of everyone in our program. This week they showed they are a team to be reckoned with and this is just the start,” concluded Leon.
Full results can be found HERE.