#9 Arkansas Finishes 2nd at CABO, 3 Razorbacks Place in Top 10
LOS CABOS, Mexico – Arkansas and Oklahoma State went back-and-forth in the final round of the 16th annual CABO COLLEGIATE, played at the par-71 Twin Dolphin Club, but it was the #11 Cowboys (-22) that edged the #9 Razorbacks (-21) by one stroke to claim the team title. It was the fourth CABO championship for Oklahoma State and its first since a three-peat in 2017, ’18 and 19.
Sophomores Gerardo Gomez and Erich Fortlage tied for fourth, shooting a 7-under 206 for 54 holes, and Thomas Curry finished 10th (-4 / 209) for his second-straight top-10 finish at the event. Gomez, Fortlage, John Daly II and Cam Smith all turned in 1-under-par rounds of 70 for the Hogs’ 4-under 280.
Arkansas and Oklahoma State were separated by one stroke through nine holes. Then, on hole 12, the Cowboys pulled away. Gaven Lane went birdie, birdie, hole-in-one, birdie on holes 12, 13, 14 and 15. Medalist Preston Stout birdied holes 12 and 13.
However, the Razorbacks battled back and tied the Cowboys at -21. Fortlage birdied holes 12 and 13. Daly birdied holes 13, 14, 16 and 17. However, OSU’s Lane had a birdie on his second-to-last hole (the par-5, 1st) which proved to be the difference.
Rice placed third at -10, 11 strokes behind Arkansas, and the top 10 was rounded out by #13 Ole Miss (-8), #18 Tennessee (-8), #27 Arizona (-2), #7 Arizona State (E), #36 Florida State (+5), #20 Stanford (+7) and#17 Georgia Tech (+8). The 5th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores placed 12th (+18).
Stout cruised to the title with his 15-under-par 198 (67-63-68), winning by seven strokes – the largest margin of victory in the 16 years of the tournament. His 198 total and 15-under score rank third-best in tournament history.
Fortlage and Gomez secured their fourth-place finish thanks to mostly clean scorecards. Fortlage only had three bogeys over 54 holes – tying for the fewest in the field – and Gomez had just four. Fortlage also had 41 pars – tying Curry for second-most in the field – and Gomez had 39.
In the final round, Gomez birdied hole one, dropped a shot on hole 3 and got back to 1-under with a birdie on 7. He finished his round with 11 pars for his 1-under, 70. Fortlage opened with six pars before dropping a shot on hole 8. He birdied holes 12 and 13 and parred out for his 70.
Smith, who finished tied for 30th (+2), and Daly, who tied for 35th (+3), each offset four bogeys with five birdies for their 70s.
Curry, after an opening-round 67 (-4), carded his second-straight even-par round of 71, getting 16 pars, a bogey and a birdie, to finish 10th.
Niilo Maki-Petaja, playing as an individual, finished tied for 42nd at +5.
Arkansas returns to action in a couple of weeks at the All-American Intercollegiate, played Mar. 16-17 at the Golf Club of Houston.
CABO COLLEGIATE
Host: Arkansas || B.A. and Rodger Kline Foundation
Twin Dolphin Club
Los Cabos, Mexico
Par: 71 • 7,156 yards
Format: 5 count 4 ||18 holes each day
FINAL RESULTS:
1 #11 Oklahoma State 280-274-276=830 / -22
2 #9 ARKANSAS 281-270-280=831 / -21
3 Rice 282-278-282=842 / -10
T4 #18 Tennessee 284-280-280=844 / -8
T4 #13 Ole Miss 282-281-281=844 / -8
6 #27 Arizona 288-281-281=850 / -2
7 #7 Arizona State 281-276-295=852 / E
8 #36 Florida State 285-287-285=857 / +5
9 #20 Stanford 286-287-286=859 / +7
10 #17 Georgia Tech 283-288-289=860 / +8
11 California 282-296-287=865 / +13
12 #5 Vanderbilt 292-285-293=870 / +18
13 Houston 298-289-286=873 / +21
14 UC Santa Barbara 299-295-2920=884 / +32
15 Loyola (Md.) 300-301-295=896 / +44
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