#5 Arkansas Wraps Regular Season; Gomez Gets 4th Top-5 of the Year
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The fifth-ranked Arkansas men’s golf fired a final-round, even-par round of 288 and finished sixth in its regular-season finale at the Mountaineer Invitational with a total of 858 (-6). Razorback Gerardo Gomez posted a 54-hole total of 210 (-6) to finish fourth for his fourth top-5 finish of the season, his second straight and third in four events.
The low round by a Razorback on Tuesday came from Nillo Maki-Petaja, who was playing as an individual. The junior completed his final few holes of the second round, which was a 1-under 71, then tied his season low round with a 4-under 68 in the final round to climb 12 spots into a tie for 12th (74-71-68=213).
For the second-straight round, #36 Clemson had the best team score, posting a 12-under 276 on Tuesday to win by four strokes. #8 Texas Tech was 11-under on Tuesday and moved up two spots to tie host West Virginia for second place with a total of 848 (-16). #38 TCU tied Texas Tech for the second-best round of the day with an 11-under round and moved up two spots to tie #6 Oklahoma State for fourth at -9 (855). The fifth-ranked Razorbacks were the only other team to finish the Invitational under par at -6 for 54 holes (858).
Gomez, ranked 37th in the NCAA, is 18-under over his last four events, shooting 68-71-71 this week to place fourth with a total of 210 (-6).
Maki-Petaja started on hole 10 and was 3-under through his first five holes. He fell to 1-under with bogeys on his sixth and seventh holes, only to get back to 3-under with birdies on his 13th and 15th holes. After dropping a shot on his 16th hole, Maki-Petaja completed his round with two birdies to tie his season-low round of 68.
Cam Smith had three bogeys and four birdies on Tuesday and finished with a 71, jumping him six spots to finish T-18th with an even-par 216.
Thomas Curry finished T-21st with a 1-over 217, John Daly II tied for 35th with a 4-over 220 and Erich Fortlage rallied from two tough rounds to fire a final-round 71 to finish T-57 with an 8-over 224.
Arkansas will now turn its attention to the 2026 SEC Championships, played April 22-26, in St. Simons Island, Ga., at the Sea Island Golf Club – Seaside Course.
MOUNTAINEER INVITATIONAL
Host: West Virginia
Pete Dye Golf Club
Bridgeport, W.Va.
Par: 72 • 7,308 yards
Format: 5 count 4 ||36 holes Monday / 18 Holes Tuesday
FINAL RESULTS:
1 #36 Clemson 294-274-276=844 / -20
T2 #8 Texas Tech 288-283-277=848 / -16
T2 West Virginia 285-282-279=848 / -16
T4 #6 Oklahoma State 288-285-282=855 / -9
T4 #38 TCU 292-286-277=855 / -9
6 #5 Arkansas 279-291-288=858 / -6
7 UNC Greensboro 290-301-285=876 / +12
8 Xavier 290-302-290=882 / +18
9 James Madison 291-300-293=884 / +20
10 Baylor 302-288-295=885 / +21
T11 George Mason 302-299-288=889 / +25
T11 Villanova 303-293-293=889 / +25
13 Appalachian State 292-297-302=892 / +28
14 VCU 296-304-296=896 / +32
15 Western Kentucky 306-296-297=899 / +35
16 William & Mary 309-298-295=902 / +38
17 Navy 303-304-299=906 / +42
18 Ball State 306-300-301=907 / +43
19 Saint Francis (Pa.) 340-335-322=997 / +133
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