Oct. 4, 2003

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ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's golf team, which is coming off its first team tournament title since 1999 last week, has finished as the runner-up in its own tournament the past three seasons. The Tigers will try and end their winners-circle frustration this Monday and Tuesday, when they host the Nestl? Purina Classic at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Club in St. Charles, Mo.

The Tigers will host eight other schools in the ninth edition of the lone home tournament on the Mizzou schedule: 2001 Nestl? Purina Classic Champion Arkansas State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), Southeastern Louisiana, UT-San Antonio, and Wisconsin.

After several lower-half finishes, Mizzou has carded three straight second-place finishes. That included a record-shattering showing last season, when the Tigers and Illinois both went low on the final day before the Illini carved out a three-stroke win. Mizzou shot a school-record team score of 15-under-par 269 in the final round, breaking the previous mark by eight strokes.

Three members of that Tiger squad will be in the Mizzou lineup this weekend. Senior David Jenkins leads the way following a pair of season-opening top-10 finishes at the Inverness and Jim Colbert Intercollegiates. He'll look to improve on a 22nd-place showing at last year's Nestl? Purina Classic.

Senior Michael Radek has the best individual finish of any of the current Tigers, as he scorched the Bluffs with a back-to-back 67 and 68 to close out last year's tournament en route to a second-place individual finish. In his nine career rounds of Nestl? Purina Classic play, he is averaging 73.4 strokes a round, but dropped that number to 69.3 over his last four loops.

Sophomore Chris Mabry tied for 46th in his inaugural showing last year, yet was 1-under at the challenging Colbert Hills course last weekend on the way to a third-place showing.

Freshman John Kelly will make his Nestl? Purina Classic debut, and will look to continue to shoot low in his backyard after firing a 1-over 145 last weekend at Kansas State.

After a year's hiatus during his redshirt year, sophomore Ben Scott will look to resume his impressive history at the Bluffs, which includes a second-round 69 - and a tie for 18th place - in 2001.

The rest of the Mizzou roster will compete as non-scoring individuals at the Nestl? Purina Classic. They include: junior Justin Bliss, and freshmen Beau Crawford, Tyler Dunn and Trent Twaddle.