No. 1 Texas men’s golf had a disappointing showing at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup from Sept. 15-17, finishing only one spot above last in fifth place.
The top four teams following Tuesday’s final round of stroke play advance to Wednesday’s match play portion of the tournament. After submitting a two-round total of 4-under 556, the Longhorns entered the final round of competition sitting in fourth place, with senior Christiaan Maas carding second place in the individual standings.
The Longhorns carded a final round score of 2-over 282, dropping them into fifth, causing them to miss the match play tournament by just one stroke. Northwestern outplayed Texas by four strokes in the final round to secure the fourth spot. In the match play final event, LSU defeated North Carolina 4-1 to win the men’s title.
Maas followed up his pair of 67s with a 2-over 72. Despite recording an eagle on the par-five 15th hole, Maas finished in a four-way tie for third place. The senior is currently ranked No. 3 in the country, according to the PGA Tour University Rankings, and solidified back-to-back top 10 finishes after placing sixth last week in the Sahalee Players Championship.
In his first collegiate tournament of the season, senior Tommy Morrison found his stride late on Tuesday. Ranked No. 5 nationally among collegiate golfers, the All-American concluded his tournament with a 2-under round of 68. His five birdies helped him climb up the individual leaderboard 10 spots to tie for 16th place.
Morrison missed the Longhorns’ previous tournament, as he was selected to represent Team USA in the Walker Cup. Morrison earned two full points for Team USA en route to its 17-9 victory over Team Great Britain/Ireland, marking the largest margin of victory in a Walker Cup since 2017.
After a second-place finish in the PGA individual standings last week, sophomore Daniel Bennett carried over his sharp play into Monday. Bennett shot a 2-under 68 in the first round of the tournament with just one bogey on his scorecard. Bennett finished in 26th place after two frustrating closing rounds, three-over and two-over.
Graduate Matt Comegys and sophomore Eduardo Derbez Torres also recorded scores for the Longhorns. Comegys finished tied for 21st in the individual standings, and Torres came into the clubhouse tied for 31st after four birdies in his final round.
The Longhorns were without their No. 8-ranked senior Luke Potter, as he was resting after competing in a tournament last week.
Texas is the only school in the country to have multiple players in the top 10 of the PGA Tour University Rankings.
Texas men’s golf will compete at Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational Friday-Sunday in a 15-team field against some of the top teams in the country.
