Rice University
David Toms Invitational
Final Round Charge
10/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 27, 2009
David Toms Intercollegiate Final Results 
BATON ROUGE, La. - Rice University freshman golfer Jade Scott began the day with five straight birdies and ended his six-under par 65 with a pair of key up and downs to capture the individual championship at the David Toms Intercollegiate Tuesday at the Country Club of Louisiana.
As a team, Rice shot its best round of the decade, firing a 279 to finish in a tie for fifth at the 14-school tournament.
Host LSU won the team title with a three-round score of 844 (-8), finishing a stroke ahead of both Kent State and North Florida. Ole Miss finished fourth with an 849 (-3) while the Owls tied for fifth with Southeastern Louisiana with three-round scores of 851 (-1).
Scott began the day three-under par and in a four-way tie for eighth.
With the threat of rain, Tuesday's final round was a shotgun start and Scott's tee shot on the 145-yard, par-3 eighth hole to begin his day was within 10 feet of the cup. His birdie on eight was the first of five straight to get him to eight-under for the tournament. The run included a 40-foot putt for eagle on the par-5, No. 11 which fell short.
Scott's five-birdie run ended with a bogey on 13. He would have a birdie at 15 then bogey 16. Back on the front nine, he moved into a tie for first on the tournament leaderboard when he sank birdie putts at both No. 2 and No. 3. He finished with a tournament-best 17 birdies at the 54-hole tournament.
Scott closed out his round with four straight pars including the par 5, No. 5 where he found water on his second shot while going for the green. Scott would take his drop, get to the green and save par on the hole.
"For Jade to win a tournament of this caliber in just his fourth college event is pretty awesome," said Rice coach Drew Scott. "He hit the ball inside 10 feet of the first five holes, had some key up and downs including the one putt on the par five after hitting into the water. These are all things you have to do if you are going to shoot a score like 65."
LSU's John Peterson fired back-to-back rounds of 66 on Monday but was +2 on the day Tuesday to finish a stroke back in second.
Scott's tournament title was the first by a Rice golfer since Parker LaBarge shot a 211 (-5) to win the Battle on the Bend Nov. 9, 2005. The 65 was also the best round of golf at Rice since Mark Phingston's 65 at the 1989 Morris Williams Intercollegiate played in Austin.
As a team, Rice also made a strong move on the tournament field during the final round. The Owls began the day in ninth place but shot a 279 (-5) Tuesday.
"We had a good team meeting last night," Scott said. "I suggested we get into the 270s and we had the best round of the day. The last nine holes we rebounded. Christopher Brown played well to shoot a 70 and Robert Burrow came back to make four birdies on the last nine holes to also get to 70. Those two guys coming in at 70 were key today."
Brown tied for 17th individually with a three-round score of 212 (-1) while Burrow shot a 216 (+3) to tie for 28th.
Rice returns to Louisiana next week and will cap the fall season at the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate hosted by Southeastern Louisiana in Springfield, La.
