FAIRFAX, California – Sahith Theegala won his third college tournament and the #5 Pepperdine men's golf team ran away with its second consecutive Alister MacKenzie Invitational championship on Tuesday in near-record-setting fashion.
 
The Waves finished with a two-day total of a 43-under 809 (273-266-270) at the par-71 Meadow Club, 16 strokes better than the host school, second-place California. The Waves began the day in first place with a five-shot lead.
 
Last year, Pepperdine won this tournament and established team records for 18 holes (22-under), 36 holes (30-under) and 54 holes (52-under). This time around, the Waves posted their second-best scores ever for 18 holes (18-under in the second round), 36 holes (29-under) and 54 holes (43-under). Today's score of 14-under tied the eighth-best team round in program history.
 
All six Waves finished below par and in the top 20.
 
PLAYER SCORES

• Senior Sahith Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS), a two-time All-American, missed all of last season with a wrist injury. He's started off his senior year in a big way, and picked up his third career victory (one shy of the Pepperdine record) by shooting a 16-under 197 (66-64-67) to win by one stroke. He began the final round in second place, three shots back. He had four birdies and zero bogeys through 15 holes to take the lead, and though he bogeyed 17, he birdied 18 for the win. The 16-under is a personal college best and ties the third-best 54-hole score in Pepperdine history.
• Freshman William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) has recorded three top-10 finishes in his first three college tournaments. He took seventh place with an 11-under 202 (69-67-66). His final round 5-under featured six birdies, including a stretch of four in five holes on the back nine. Mouw led the Waves with 18 birdies over the two days.
• Senior Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) tied for 10th with an 8-under 205 (68-67-70). His final round included one eagle and one birdie.
• Freshman Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek HS) got off to a great start with birdies on four of the first five holes, helping the Waves separate themselves from the competition early. He tied for 12th with a 7-under 206 (71-68-67). His 4-under today included six birdies.
• Sophomore Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) tied for 20th with a 5-under 208 (70-68-70). He posted five birdies in the third round.
• Playing as an individual, junior Joey Vrzich (El Cajon, Calif./Christian HS/Nevada) also tied for 20th with a 5-under 208 (74-66-68). His 3-under today featured seven birdies.

QUOTABLE
 
Head coach Michael Beard says: "We are obviously happy for Sahith getting the individual win. He did in style with a birdie at the last hole. It was an awesome team win. It was great to have everyone contribute, and having our highest finisher tie for 20th shows our depth. We're going to enjoy this win."

Sahith Theegala says: "We've had success here before and we knew we could do it again. We want to take this momentum into our next tournament in Georgia and have a strong finish to the fall. Individually, it was great to grab a win again. I was just trying to give us some breathing room as a team and hit some good shots. My game has been great and it was good to see it all click together. I'm happy that I'm healthy and able to put together a performance like this for the team."
 
UP NEXT
 
Some Waves will compete as individuals at CSUN's Bill Cullum Invitational next week (Oct. 14-15), while the final team event of the fall is the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational from Oct. 18-20.
 
THE NUMBERS
 
Team Scores: 1. Pepperdine 809; 2. California 825; 3. Saint Mary's 826; 4. Boise State 829; 5. Long Beach State 830; 6. Santa Clara 834; T7. San Diego State 835; T7. San Jose State 835; 9. Chattanooga 838; 10. San Diego 842; 11. Nevada 844; 12. Loyola Marymount 852; 13. Fresno State 856; 14. UC Santa Barbara 858; 15. California "B" 859; 16. Hawai'i 889.
 
Top Individuals: 1. Sahith Theegala (Pepperdine) 197; T2. Harrison Kingsley (San Diego) 198; T2. Sean Yu (San Jose State) 198; 4. Ethan Farnam (Saint Mary's) 199; 5. Matthew McCarty (Santa Clara) 200.