Oct. 10, 2000
St. Charles, Mo. -
Coming from six strokes back, Baylor University claimed the team championship at the Purina Classic, which wrapped up today at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Course, in St. Charles, Mo. Entering today's final round of play, Baylor stood in third place, six shots back of leader Missouri and second-place Kansas. But the Bears played seven-under par as a team on Tuesday, and fired a tournament-best 277 for a three-round total of 853. That left them three strokes ahead of Missouri, which slipped to second with a total of 856, followed by Kansas, third at 859.
Baylor's win was the school's second in three years at the Purina Classic, matching their 1998 title. Baylor did not play at the 1999 event. Missouri's finish marked the Tigers' best ever at the event, which began in 1995. MU's previous best finish was a fifth-place showing in 1999.
Individually, Kansas' Travis Hurst claimed individual medalist honors, with a three-round total of 206. Hurst was involved in a five-way tie for first place after two rounds, but Hurst came out on top of the logjam by shooting a four-under par 67 on Tuesday. He finished one shot better than Missouri's Mark McBride (Lebanon, Mo.) and Baylor's Jimmy Walker, who shot identical rounds of 68 to finish tied for second at 207.
Hurst's win extended a streak in which Kansas golfers have won or tied for the individual title at this tournament to four years. Previously, KU's Chris Thompson tied for the title in 1997, and Ryan Vermeer won in 1998 and 1999.
Missouri's charge was led by McBride, who shot a school-record six-under par 65 in Monday's second round. McBride came up just short of winning his second straight tournament, as he claimed last week's Jim Colbert Intercollegiate at Manhattan, Kan.
Two other Tigers registered top-20 finishes. Sophomore Chris Happ tied for 13th place overall, with a total of 214 for three rounds. The Winnetka, Ill. native shot a career-best 67 in Monday's second round. Freshman Brandon Knaub (Seven Valleys, Pa.) was solid throughout tournament play, shooting rounds of 72-72-71 for a 215 total which left him tied for 16th place.
TEAM STANDINGS Pl Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total 1 Baylor 292 284 277 576 2 MISSOURI 291 279 286 570 3 Kansas 285 287 287 572 4 La.-Lafayette 293 289 280 582 5 Arkansas St. 290 289 284 579 6 Tulsa 297 281 288 578 7 Michigan St. 288 290 292 578 8 UNC-Charlotte 294 293 284 587 9 Wichita St. 299 288 285 587 10 Rice 294 297 282 591 11 Colorado 294 297 289 591 12 Kansas St. 303 285 293 588 13 Illinois 296 294 294 590 14 Illinois St. 300 296 290 596 15 Nebraska 301 297 298 598INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS Pl Player (School) 1st 2nd 3rd Tot 1 Travis Hurst (KU) 72 67 67 206 2 Mark McBride (MU) 74 65 68 207 Jimmy Walker (BU) 71 68 68 207 4 Jeff Curl (UNCC) 73 68 69 210 5 Jason Jackson (Ark. St.)71 72 68 211 Chris Connolly (Rice) 72 71 68 211 Nic Baker (Ill. St.) 71 70 70 211 13 Chris Happ (MU) 72 67 75 214 16 Brandon Knaub (MU) 72 72 71 215 39 *Ben Douglas 70 74 78 222 37 Tom Vogt (MU) 73 75 73 221 52 *Neal Stafford (MU) 75 73 76 224 75 Michael Radek (MU) 77 79 74 230 79 *Shawn Fleming (MU) 78 79 77 234 84 *Adam Carter (MU) 94 75 82 251 *-Competed as an individual