PALM CITY, Fla. — The Texas A&M men’s golf team climbed the leaderboard Tuesday, moving up five spots during the final round to finish third at the Valspar Invitational at Floridian.
“We played like a whole new team this week,” Texas A&M head coach J.T. Higgins said. “We showed a lot more intensity, confidence and really believed in ourselves. That was really nice to see and I think our guys felt a lot better about the way they played.”
The Aggies (277-285-284=846, -6) turned in the day’s third-lowest team round to end play just nine strokes behind team champion Georgia Tech (274-280-283=837, -15). The strong finish in the team standings gives Texas A&M its fifth top-five placing in nine tournaments this season.
Oklahoma State (-7) finished second at the event while LSU (-5) and Arkansas (-4) rounded out the top five teams on the leaderboard.
Sophomore Andrew Lister (68-67-69=204, -9) carded a pair of eagles Tuesday while turning in his third consecutive round under par at the event to finish in a tie for third overall at nine-under. It stands out as the first career top-five finish for the San Diego, Calif., native as well as his third top-10 finish this season.
“Andrew was really solid, he played three great rounds,” Higgins added. “Today he finished strong with a birdie and an eagle coming in. He looked fantastic all week and was really strong keeping the ball in play off the tee.”
Sophomore Adrià Arnaus (67-73-70=210, -3) carded the first top-10 finish of his Texas A&M career, firing a final-round 70 to end the event with a share of 10th place.
Junior Greg Yates (73-72-72=217, +4) concluded play in a tie for 36th while teammates Ben Crancer (73-73-73=219, +6) and Johannes Veerman (69-74-76=219, +6) were two shots back with shares of 47th place.
Georgia Tech’s Ollie Schniederjans (67-67-67=201) took home individual medalist honors with a three-round total of 12-under par.
Up next for Texas A&M will be its lone home tournament of the season as it hosts the Aggie Invitational April 5-6 at Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas.
“We’re really excited because the Aggie Invitational is a special event for us,” Higgins said. “The community gets behind it and gives us a chance to play in front of a home crowd. I think we’ve really turned a corner. For us everything really starts with the postseason and that gets going with the Aggie Invitational before we head to conference, regionals and nationals.”
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics