Alabama
Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational
Alabama Men's Golf Finishes Tied for Sixth at OFCC/Illini Invitational
9/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- Freshman Davis Riley tied for fourth overall to lead the No. 24 Alabama men's golf team to a sixth-place finish at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. The Crimson Tide recorded its lowest round of the year on Sunday (284) and tied Texas A&M with a three-day score of 864 (294-287-284).
"We had an improvement each day after our opening round," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. "I am proud of how the guys kept fighting throughout the weekend. There are a lot of positive things we are doing, but we are still misfiring a lot and still looking for that winning mojo. We have learned a lot the last two weeks. We will get a couple practice days in this week and try to get ready for next weekend's tournament."
Riley led the Tide for a second consecutive tournament and collected his first top-five finish with the fourth-place result. Riley, who ranked second among all individuals in par 4 average (3.92) over the three-day event, carded his second consecutive round in the 60s and third in six rounds this season with a 2-under par 68 on Sunday. He finished the 54-hole tournament with a total of 2-under par 208 (73-67-68).
Junior Robby Shelton tied for 13th overall at 3-over 213 (70-73-70) on the par-70, 7,142-yard Olympia Fields Country Club North Course. Shelton, who was playing in his first event for the Tide this season, just returned from Lancashire, England earlier in the week where he represented the United States at the 2015 Walker Cup.
Senior Tom Lovelady tied for 43rd with a 222 (76-72-74), while sophomore Jonathan Hardee was one stroke behind him with a 223 (74-77-72) and tied for 50th. Junior Dru Love rounded out the Tide in 66th position with a 228 (78-75-75).
Third-ranked Florida State (846) captured the team title by three strokes over No. 19 Oklahoma State (849). Arizona State (855), ranked No. 11 nationally, placed third, followed by No. 13 Stanford (856) and top-ranked Illinois (858). The Tide finished ahead of several ranked teams, including No. 2 Texas (868), No. 16 Baylor (880) and No. 11 Texas Tech (886).
Alabama will return to action when it competes at the Dick's Sporting Goods Collegiate Cup Challenge on Sept. 25-27 in Nashville, Tenn.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMGolf, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
