IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa men’s golf team finished second on Sunday at the Hawkeye Invitational. Iowa shot 854 (-10) through 54 holes, placing 20 strokes ahead of third place Creighton. Twenty-eighth ranked Kansas (-12) earned the tournament title, with Jayhawk Harry Hillier finishing as medalist after three rounds at Finkbine Golf Course.
Junior Garrett Tighe was Iowa’s low finisher on the weekend, placing second, just one stroke behind Hillier with a career-best 54-hole score of 209 (-7), smashing a previous best of 221. Tighe also shot a career low 18-hole round of 65 (-7) in the second round on Saturday before closing out play with a 71 (-1) in Sunday’s final round.
“That was my best finish of college golf,” said Tighe. “I had a lot of confidence. Putting was a little iffy today, but I hit my driver really well so I’m pretty happy with how I finished… I got a lot of confidence from this event, so I’m really excited for Big Tens.”
Junior Mac McClear was next for the Hawkeyes, placing fifth on the leaderboard with a 213 (-3) score. McClear shot one-under par in round three to secure the top-five finish.
Senior Gonzalo Leal Montero shot up the leaderboard with a five-under par 67 in the final round. The veteran from Seville, Spain, posted seven birdies on Sunday to tie for sixth place.
Iowa finished with 47 birdies in the tournament, which was the second most in the field. Tighe led the way with 15 birdies, with Leal Montero close behind at 13 birdies on the weekend. Junior Ronan Kleu (hole two) and McClear (hole 15) each posted an eagle in round three.
IOWA SCORECARD
| 2 | Iowa | 289 | 285 | 280 | -10 | 854 |
| 2 | Garrett Tighe | 73 | 65 | 71 | -7 | 209 |
| 5 | Mac McClear | 74 | 68 | 71 | -3 | 213 |
| T-6 | Gonzalo Leal Montero | 71 | 72 | 67 | -2 | 214 |
| T-22 | Ronan Kleu | 73 | 76 | 71 | +4 | 220 |
| T-39 | Callum Macfie | 72 | 77 | 76 | +9 | 225 |
| T-50 | Ian Meyer (Ind.) | 77 | 75 | 75 | +11 | 227 |
| T-72 | Carlos Roldos (Ind.) | 79 | 75 | 80 | +19 | 234 |
| T-77 | Felipe Pedraza (Ind.) | 79 | 78 | 81 | +22 | 237 |
HAWKEYE NOTEABLES
- Iowa’s 4.05 (+7) par four stroke average and 4.57 (-26) par five stroke average each led the field. Tighe’s four-under par (3.87) par four average tied for the best in the field, as did McClear’s eight-under par (4.33) average on par fives.
UP NEXT
The Big Ten Championships are scheduled for April 29-May 1 at the Pete Dye Course in French Lick, Indiana.