Singh, Bulls Capture Titles at USF Invitational
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
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By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer
TAMPA, MARCH 13, 2018 – Poised
Priyanshu Singh posted his first collegiate title victory while the No. 21 Bulls won in wire-to-wire fashion at the USF Invitational on Tuesday.
Singh jumped up three spots on the leaderboard in the final round with a 1-under 71 at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club (par 72, 7,004 yards). The senior from Delhi, India collected his fourth birdie of the day on his final hole (No. 2) to finish at even par and one shot ahead of teammate
Claudio Correa.
USF (+11) took a 22-shot advantage into the final day and used its second-best team score of the tournament to finish 29 strokes ahead of second-place Florida Atlantic. This marks USF's fourth tournament victory of the season and puts the Bulls one more title away from the program season record of five set in 2014-15.
All five Bulls in the lineup finished in the top 25 with Correa placing second at 1-over in the 66-player field. The senior from Santiago, Chile held the late lead before posting his team-leading fourth top-10 finish of the season.
Sophomore
Kyle Flexsenhar (Lake Mary, Fla.) took a one-shot lead into the final round and tied for third place at 3-over after opening the tournament with a career-best 67.
Cristian DiMarco carded his second 74 of the tournament in the final round to finish in a tie for 10
th place at 8-over. The senior from Longwood, Fla., is right behind Correa with three top-10 finishes and he's placed in the top 20 in all eight tournaments so far this season.
Senior
Jimmy Jones (Tampa) placed 25
th to secure his fifth top-25 finish of the season. Playing as an individual, sophomore
Andre Leveque (Windermere, Fla.) carded a 75 in the final round to finish in a tie for 18
th place.
Steady production from the lineup helped USF increase its title total to 15 since head coachÂ
Steve Bradley took over the program prior to the 2014-15 season. Under Bradley, the Bulls have won multiple titles in each season he's been at the helm – (4 in 2017-18), (2 in 2016-17), (4 in 2015-16), (5, 2014-15).
USF Scores
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Quotable
Assistant coach Brad Caldwell on the Bulls' fourth title victory of the season:
"Any time you get an opportunity to win, it feels good. This is our fourth win of the season and I don't know if there's many other schools in the country that have done that. It's exciting and something for these guys to have some confidence about. Coming to our home course here at Tampa Palms and getting to showcase this place to other schools, and what we have on a daily basis, is pretty cool as well."
Caldwell on the Bulls handling the pressure of winning on their home course:
"Going into this, based off rankings, we were the favorites to win. That's a little different pressure when you go to an event and you know you're the team to beat. Then you have the added pressure of it being on your home course and you're expected to win. It's a lot of different feels and emotions you get throughout the rounds that you have to handle. Our guys did a pretty good job of that all week. It's fun to see the guys rise to that challenge."
Priyanshu Singh on what led to him rallying in the final round to capture his first collegiate title:
"I birdied 17 coming down the stretch and birdied my last hole of the day on the second hole. I was just trying to make birdies and hopefully put myself in a situation where if someone happens to make a bogey, I'd win. Unfortunately, Claudio made a bogey at the end and I came out at the top. It feels great to win."
Singh on what the win does for his confidence heading into the final stretch of the season:
"I know we're going into postseason pretty soon. We've got some big events coming up and we're playing at Floridian next week. This is huge."
Up Next
USF continues its spring season March 19-21 in Palm City, Fla., at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational.
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About USF Men's Golf
USF men's golf returns six players from the 2016-17 team that captured the program's third consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship title. Head coach Steve Bradley has been at the helm for all three league championship runs and guided the Bulls back to the final rounds of the NCAA Championship in 2016. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
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