Oct. 23, 2007
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WINDERMERE, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - No. 5 Georgia conquered the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational presented by Ruth's Chris Steak House once again, winning by 21 strokes over second-place No. 29 Clemson Tuesday. It was the Bulldogs' third win in the four-year history of the event at the Isleworth Golf & Country Club, and it also was largest margin of victory recorded during the three-day tournament.
In the field that included six of the top 10 teams in the country, Georgia stole the show with a single-round scoring record of 275 (-13) Monday and easily held on thanks to a 277 (-11) on Tuesday. The 56-hole total of 841 (-23) smashed another mark as well, eclipsing the old record set by the Bulldogs in 2005 (863).
Host UCF entered the tournament at No. 34 in the nation, and eventually finished in seventh place ahead of No. 6 Florida State (tied for 15th) and No. 8 Stanford (ninth). It was the Knights' best performance since the event's inception in 2004. The host program opened with a first-round score of 284 (-4) and hung on for seventh place, five shots better than No. 20 South Carolina, who came in eighth.
Besides Georgia, the other two programs to shoot under par were Clemson (862, -2) and No. 7 Southern California (263, -1).
Individual medalist honors were decided in a highly-contested dual between Georgia's Harris English and Southern California's Jamie Lovemark. With English up a stroke with just a few holes to play, he put away the title with birdies on No. 16 and No. 17, defeating Lovemark by three strokes.
English's 56-hole total of 205 (-11) was four strokes better than former Bulldog Chris Kirk and former Oklahoma State Cowboy Pablo Martin, who both shot a 209 (-7) in 2005. Meanwhile, English's six-under 66 in the final round tied the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational single-day mark, which was set by OSU's Rickie Fowler and Wake Forest's Dustin Groves' Monday.
"I have been working hard on my game and I have been concentrating on the small stuff, said English. "It has really paid off here. It is good to see that I am playing well. This (win) shows our depth as a team. We are playing real well right now and have great team chemistry. This is a great win as a team." Georgia's Brian Harman, who won the 2006 edition by one stroke (216, E) and was the only player at even par or better last year, posted back-to-back 71s (-1) during the final two days to conclude his event in a tie for 16th.
UCF was led by Jhared Hack and David Johnson, who both wrapped up their tournaments in the top 20. Hack delivered with a three-under 69 Tuesday to jump into a tie for 10th (214, -2), while Johnson tied for 16th by firing an overall score of 216 (E).
The three-day, three-round event was hosted by UCF, the Tavistock Group and the Central Florida Sports Commission.