LA QUINTA, Calif. – Battling harsh winds and a host of ranked schools across the country, the Pepperdine men's golf program broke through and won The Prestige for the first time in program history on Wednesday afternoon.
The #15 Waves, who had four second place finishes in 21 previous trips to La Quinta, held a lead after each day of competition at the Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST en route to a six-shot win over #3 Texas Tech.
William Mouw nearly won the individual title at the event, falling one shot short of Texas Tech's Ludvig Aberg, the first-ever three-time champion at The Prestige.
PLAYER SCORES
- Senior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) finished second at 208 (65-71-72). He had three birdies in the final round on Wednesday.
- Graduate Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) moved up 18 spots on the leaderboard in the final round to finish tied for fifth at 211 (73-69-69). He had two birdies on Wednesday. This is Hitchner's second top-10 finish in as many tournaments after finishing the Southwestern Invitational tied for ninth.
- Graduate Sam Choi (Anaheim, Calif./New Mexico) finished tied for ninth at 212 (69-69-74).
- Graduate Luke Gifford (Boca Raton, Fla./South Florida) finished tied for 18th at 216 (70-69-77). He posted a pair of birdies on the back nine on Wednesday.
- Graduate Roberto Nieves (Miami, Fla./Delaware) finished tied for 42nd at 221 (72-74-75). He birdied three of the first six holes in Wednesday's final round.
MICHAEL BEARD QUOTE
"Not knowing if we were going to play the third round, I was very impressed with how our guys handled the uncertainty of finishing and the wind today. The conditions were extremely difficult and they stayed in and battled all the way to the end.
"Winning always feels good, and getting this win this early in the spring is big for this team. With four seconds in past years – to finally win The Prestige with this group of guys is really special. Coach Zambri and the guys have worked so hard this year, so it's nice to see it pay off a little."
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Pepperdine 844; 2. Texas Tech 850; 3. Stanford 857; 4. TCU 864; 5. Northwestern 866; 6. Colorado State 867; 7. Louisville 870; 8. Baylor 872; 9. San Francisco 878; 10. LMU 880; 11. UC Davis 883; T12 Liberty 885; T12 Washington State 885; 14. San Diego 887; 15. Charlotte 889; T16 Iowa State 895; T16 LSU 895; T18 Kansas 898; T18 North Texas 898; 20. Oregon State 909; 21. Creighton 916; 22. Nebraska 920; 23. Cal Poly 927; 24. Princeton 930.
Top Individuals: 1. Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech) 207;
2. William Mouw (Pepperdine) 208; T3. Tyran Snyders (Texas Tech) 209; T3. Michael Thorbjornsen (Stanford) 209;
T5. Derek Hitchner (Pepperdine) 211; T5. Riley Lewis (LMU) 211; T5. Karl Vilips (Stanford) 211; T5. Drew Wrightson (Baylor) 211; T9. Max Kennedy (Louisville) 212; T9. James Imai (Northwestern) 212; T9. Rasmus Hjelm (Colorado State) 212; T9.
Sam Choi (Pepperdine) 212.
