FRESNO, Calif. — Gonzaga men's golfer Matthew Ruel tied for ninth at six-under (210) at the 2021 Nick Watney Invitational hosted by Fresno State at the Sunnyside Country Club.
Ruel was even-par (72) in the third and final round Tuesday. He made 15 pars on Day 2, and totaled 36 in the tournament. The senior's 2.75 (-3) average on Par-3 holes led the field.
Zach Stocker and Charlie Magruder tied for 21st and 26th. Stocker was two-under (214), while Magruder was one-under (215). Magruder carded a 72 (E) in the third round, and Stocker was one-over (73). Stocker had four birdies Tuesday, and led the Bulldogs with 14 in the tournament. Magruder had five birdies in the third round.
Holden Backes (38th) and Jace Minni (44th) ended the event at six-over (222) and 10-over (226). Cameron Nicklos, playing as an individual, was 48th at 18-over (234).
Gonzaga tied for eighth as a team. The Zags were three-over (291) in Round 3, and finished three-under (861).
BYU took the team title after finishing 15-under (273) in the third round. The Cougars were 31-under (833) in the tournament. Loyola Marymount was second at 28-under (836).
Loyola Marymount's Gavin Cohen earned medalist honors, beating out BYU's Carson Lundell in a playoff. Both golfers finished at 13-under (203). Lundell carded a 66 (-6) in the third round, the lowest round in the tournament.
Gonzaga is at the three-day Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate next from Feb. 19-21, in Palm Desert, Calif. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com.
Gonzaga Head Coach Robert Gray …
"Not the day we were looking for today. We needed to play some of the easier holes and par 5's better. While it wasn't the finish we wanted, playing in our first event coming out of the winter under par is a positive start. Just one shot per guy each round moves us up to fourth and we definitely still have some rust to shake off.
"Having 11 of the 15 scores at +1 or better is also very positive.
"Individually, Matt picked up where he left off when things shut down due to the pandemic. One bad swing was the difference in having three consecutive under par rounds. He had a number of birdie opportunities today but ended up on the wrong side of the hole most of the time, leaving difficult putts to make.
"Zach had another good round going but one bad hole kept him from a top 15 finish. In fact, two holes were the difference this week between his T21 finish and finishing in solo 6th. He's close to putting it all together to collect a win."
