Raiders finish impressive 4th at Bearcat Invite

Monday, September 25

Cincinnati, OH

Middle Tennessee

Bearcat Invitational

Photo by: Joe Murphy

9/26/2017 2:52:00 PM | Men's Golf

Byrd, Thomas lead the way

By: @MTAthletics

FINAL RESULTS

CINCINNATI – Middle Tennessee carded a final round 277 to finish an impressive fourth at the challenging Bearcat Invitational on Tuesday. The Raiders placed two shots in front of perennial power Illinois, while also finishing ahead of Ohio State and Louisville.

The Blue Raiders' 54-hole total of 836 went down as the third-best 54-hole score in school history.

Kentucky won the event with an 820 followed by Arkansas (826) and Mississippi State (835).

Junior Marcus Byrd enjoyed his best tournament as a collegian with a school record tying 203 total. Byrd tied for third in the field in par 5 scoring and tied for fourth in par 4 scoring. He finished with 12 total birdies.

Sophomore Chip Thomas matched his career-best round in the final 18 with a 68 to tie for ninth overall. Thomas had a personal-best 207 total.

Junior James Beckner turned in his second straight solid effort with rounds of 73-71-70 to tie for 26^th.

Redshirt freshman Tyler Johnson tied for 32^nd with a 215, including a career-best 69 in round two.

Ilari Saulo tied for 42^nd with rounds of 73-70-74, while Tanner Owens once again bounced back strong after a tough opening round with a 70 and 71. Owens had eight birdies over his last two rounds.

QUOTABLE
"A very solid week for the Blue Raiders after coming north and finishing fourth in a very tough field," said Head Coach Brennan Webb. "I think for our young players to go out and play with Illinois and see that we can compete with teams of that caliber will be a very valuable lesson as the season moves forward.

"We have aspirations of being a program that competes with the very best in the nation and this was a great opportunity early in the season for us to see where we stand. With the strength of our schedule going forward, this was a big week for us.

"Marcus (Byrd) and Chip (Thomas) continued to show that they have each made a big leap from last season, not only in their level of play, but their belief that they can compete week in and week out with anybody."

NOTES
Marcus Byrd's 54-hole total of 203 matched the best in school history with three others (Ilari Saulo in 2016, Brett Patterson in 2013 and Kent Bulle in 2007) … Chip Thomas' 207 total matched the 10th best 54-hole total in MT history … Middle Tennessee's second round score of 276 matched the ninth best round in school history … The third round score of 277 matched the 12^th best all-time by the Blue Raiders … The 276 and 277 go down as the best back-to-back rounds by MT since the 2008 Maxwell (271 and 276) … The 54-hole team total of 836 ranks as the third best all-time by a Blue Raider team … Chip Thomas' final round 68 matched his best career round … Marcus Byrd's first round 67 was a new career-best … Tanner Owens' second round 70 was the best of his young collegiate career … Tyler Johnson set a new round low with a 69 in round two

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Blue Raiders will host the fourth annual Franklin American Mortgage Intercollegiate at The Grove, Oct. 8-10.