June 4, 2005

Results

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Sophomore Shawn Jasper (Marthasville, Mo. / Francis Howell HS / Newman Univ.) capped an historic season Saturday at the 108th NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, as he tied for 16th individually at Caves Valley Golf Club. It's the best finish by a Tiger at the national tournament since Stan Utley - now MU's volunteer coach - tied for 11th in 1984.

Playing before a gallery that included a half-dozen family members, as well as his four other Tiger teammates after the quintet competed as a team for the first time at this tournament since 1986, Jasper shot a closing 3-over-par 73 on Saturday to finish at 6-over 286 for the tournament. He struggled with bogeys on the second, sixth and seventh holes before notching his first birdie at the 11th. He bookended bogeys at 15 and 18 around a final birdie at the 17th hole - the third-toughest all weekend at Caves Valley.

By virtue of his top-20 finish, Jasper earns Honorable Mention All-America status, the first for a Tiger since John Utley in 1990.

"Today was the first day that my putter really didn't work well for me. I felt I played alright, managed the ball well and kinda grinded my way around," Jasper said. "This week was a lot of fun, through, and definitely something we need to do more often. We were all excited to represent the University here, and we know they support us, but our goal is definitely to win this. We proved that we're one of the top teams in the country this week. To not play well at all this week and still finish 20th is a great accomplishment."

Georgia posted a solid final-round score to notch an 11-stroke victory over Georgia Tech for the team title, while Washington's James Lepp fired a stellar 7-under 63 - the best round of the entire tournament - to force a playoff with Pepperdine's Michael Putnam, the second- and third-round leader. Lepp defeated Putnam on the third playoff hole to claim medalist honors.

Of Mizzou's 10 golfers on this year's roster, only senior Justin Bliss (Chesterfield, Mo. / Lafayette HS) will be lost to graduation for next year's team. Leroux will also welcome three prep standouts from the state of Tennessee next year - Peter Malnati (Dandridge, Tenn.), Ryne Fisher (Clarksville, Tenn.) and Bud Reynolds (Knoxville, Tenn.).