LAS VEGAS – Patrick Rodgers defended his title at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters by holding off UCLA’s Jonathan Garrick and UNLV’s Kurt Kitayama for his second straight win and eighth collegiate victory.
Rodgers, the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, shot a 2-over 74 on his final round Sunday for the two-shot victory.
Host UNLV (886) won the team title at the par-72, 7,374-yard Southern Highlands Golf Club, two shots ahead of second-place Stanford (297-297-294) and Oklahoma State (888).
Alabama and UCLA finished in a tie for fourth at 33-over 897.
Garrick held a one-shot lead through 16, but carded a triple bogey on 17 to open the door for Rodgers. Rodgers notched pars on 17 and 18 to secure the win, bringing him three shy of Tiger Woods’ school-record 11 career title belts.
“It’s truly an honor to be a champion back-to-back,” Rodgers said. “I take a lot of pride in winning this golf tournament.”
Though Rodgers claimed the individual title, his Sunday score was not the best among the Cardinal contingent. That honor was shared by Cameron Wilson and David Boote, each of whom shot 73. Jim Liu added a 74, four shots better than his previous round, and Viraat Badhwar finished with a 76. Badhwar tied for 21st with Liu sharing the 50th slot.
Badhwar’s birdie on nine ended a 40-hole birdie-less streak.
Wilson (72-75-73) joined Rodgers in the top 10 with an eighth-place effort.
One final note- there's only one proper way to travel to Vegas. pic.twitter.com/4P30mfcZKv
— ByTheMinStanfordGolf (@ByTheMinSMGolf) March 10, 2014
Boote (77-78-73) started 3-over after the first two holes, but rallied back with a pair of birdies in the remaining 16 holes to finish the day 1-over and 12-over for the tournament. Boote tied for 34th.
The Cardinal returns home to play host to the United States Intercollegiate (March 28-30).