No. 1 Auburn men’s golf team earned its fourth victory of the season this Sunday after leading through the weekend at the Mason Rudolph Championship at Vanderbilt Legends Club, while junior Jackson Koivun secured his fourth individual win this season.
“Overall great performance from our guys from start to finish,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “We put ourselves in a good position to contend for a win from the first day, and then they just never let off the gas. All six of them just love to compete and love to win, and that’s the standard we’ve set for ourselves here at Auburn.”
Koivun captured his fourth title in six starts, shooting 12-under. It was a close competition as he won by two, just barely edging out Ole Miss’ Tom Fischer in a tight final round. Auburn as a team distanced themselves from the field with a 26-under team victory, finishing 17 shots ahead of host No. 11 Vanderbilt.
With this win, the Tigers defended their Mason Rudolph title from a year ago, while extending their streak to seven consecutive tournaments with top-two finishes. The victory also improved their record to 49-16-1 (.758) against the top-25 opponents this season.
Each of Auburn’s six players landed in the top-25, highlighted by Koivun, freshman Jake Albert and junior Josiah Gilbert leading the way with top-10 finishes. Junior Cayden Pope and freshman Logan Reilly both tied for 11th. Sophomore Billy Davis rose 21 spots up the leaderboard with an impressive 3-under 68 to finish 25th.
The Tigers had a dominant opening to the weekend, as Koivun led the way with a 67 (-4) sharing an individual lead with Tom Fischer of Ole Miss, both positioning themselves to earn low medalist. Koivun edged him in a second-round 68 (-3), and then secured the win when he carded a bogeyless 66(-5), including three birdies over his final five holes.
This win is the ninth of Koivun’s collegiate career, making him the 10th player since 2010 to pass the benchmark.
“Winning is in the DNA of this program,” Koivun said. “Every time we compete, we accept nothing less than that. I’m excited to get another one for myself but even more stoked for the team to be able to add another trophy to the trophy case when we get back home.”
The rest of the lineup backed him up delivering strong opening rounds, with Pope shooting 68 (-3) and Albert 69 (-2). Gilbert also finished under par with a 70 (-1). Reilly and Davis followed with Reilly shooting a 72 (+1) and Davis 74 (+3).
Albert has stayed hot this spring, securing his third top 10 finish with a 6-under week in Nashville. With rounds of 69 (-2), 71 (E) and 67 (-4) he closed with his fourth eagle of the year, on his final hole of the event.
Gilbert, Pope and Reilly traded positions throughout the tournament, but Gilbert finished best among the trio with a 3 under, closing with a 69 (-2) on the last day after rounds of 70 (-1) and 71 (E). Pope and Reilly delivered solid performances, shooting 1-under.
On FridayPope turned in his best round 68 (-3), giving him nine rounds sub-70 this year. Reilly added his own 68 (-3) Saturday, and has gone sub-70 eight times in his rookie campaign.
Auburn will be headed to the regular-season finale, the Ford Collegiate. The event will be held Monday, April 13 to 14, at The Ford Field and River Club in Richmond Hill, Georgia.
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