Mueller Gets 20th; Michigan Closes 13th at MacKenzie Invite

Tuesday, October 14

Fairfax, Calif.

7:45 AM PT

Michigan

Alister MacKenzie Invitational

Mueller Gets 20th; Michigan Closes 13th at MacKenzie Invite

10/14/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

Oct. 14, 2014

• Note & Quotes

Site: Fairfax, Calif.
Course: The Meadow Club (par 71, 6,734 yards)
Tournament: Alister MacKenzie Invitational
U-M Team Standing: 13th Place of 16 Teams (285-289-299/873)
Top U-M Individual: Kyle Mueller, tie-20th (68-71-75/214, +1)
Next U-M Event: Mon-Tue., Oct. 27-28 -- at Royal Oaks Intercollegiate (Dallas, Texas)

FAIRFAX, Calif. -- Led by a top-20 finish from freshman Kyle Mueller (Athens, Ga./Athens Academy), the University of Michigan men's golf team closed 13th with an 873 team tally today (Tuesday, Oct. 15) at Cal's Alister MacKenzie Invitational played at the Meadow Club.

With an opening three-under 68 from Mueller and a one-under 70 from sophomore Reed Hrynewich (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores), the Wolverines opened Monday's (Oct. 13) 36-hole day with a one-over 285. Despite the winds picking up in the second round, sophomore Tom Swanson (Missoula, Mont./Loyola Sacred Heart) posted a one-under 70, while Mueller had an even-par 71, putting him among the top 15 individually, as U-M tallied a 289 total to put them 12th at 579 after the first day of play.

With temperatures dropping nearly 15 degrees and rain and stronger winds in the forecast, team scores elevated across the leaderboard as the field battled the elements. Junior Chris O'Neill (Glen Allen, Va./Deep Run) and Swanson paced play with rounds of 73 and 74, respectively. Swanson's final round was highlighted with five birdies. With those scores, U-M closed with a 299 to close with an 873 total, dropping the Wolverines to 13th.

Mueller led U-M for the third time this season with his one-over 214, tying for 20th (68-71-75), while O'Neill (72-74-73) and Swanson (75-70-74) each tied for 41st at 219. Rounding out the Wolverines finishes were Hrynewich's tie for 55th at 222 (70-74-78) and junior Brett McIntosh (London, Ontario, Canada/Saunders Secondary School) tying for 72nd at 227 (76-74-77).

The Wolverines will now focus their attention of the fall finale when they head to Dallas, Texas, to play in Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 27-28. The 54-hole event will be played at the Royal Oaks Country Club, which was designed by Fred Couples.

Final Team Standings

 1. California            279-272-288 = 839 (-13) 2. Arizona State         271-278-292 = 841 3. Oregon State          274-278-292 = 844 4. UC Davis              275-283-291 = 849 5. Pepperdine            283-285-285 = 853 6. San Diego State       273-284-297 = 854 7. Colorado              277-282-296 = 855 8. Minnesota             280-286-294 = 860 9. Brigham Young         277-286-302 = 86510. San Francisco         273-295-300 = 86811. Washington State      279-288-303 = 87012. St. Mary's (Calif.)   276-301-295 = 87213. MICHIGAN              285-289-299 = 87314. Princeton             285-299-299 = 88315. San Jose State        284-294-307 = 88516. Hawaii                281-300-307 = 888

Top Individuals

 1. Max Rottluff, Arizona State           68-66-70 = 204 (-9) 2. Tyler Collier, Oregon State           69-66-71 = 206 3. Sebastian Crampton, California        68-66-73 = 207 4. Jonathan De Los Reye, St. Mary's      63-77-69 = 209    Riccardo Michelini, San Diego State   68-68-73 = 209 6. Keelan Kilpatrick, California         72-69-69 = 210    Yannik Paul, Colorado                 66-67-77 = 210    Nicolas Noya, UC Davis                68-68-74 = 210 9. Luke Vivolo, UC Davis                 67-71-73 = 211    Jeremy Paul, Colorado                 69-70-72 = 211

Michigan Individuals

T20. Kyle Mueller     68-71-75 = 214 (+1)T41. Chris O'Neill    72-74-73 = 219T41. Tom Swanson      75-70-74 = 219T55. Reed Hrynewich   70-74-78 = 222T72. Brett McIntosh   76-74-77 = 227

N O T E S

• Kyle Mueller has finished as the top Wolverine in three of the first four fall events, including winning his first collegiate start -- the Wolverine Intercollegiate (Sept. 6-7).

• Kyle Mueller has shot seven of his 12 rounds this season at or below par. This week, he added a three-under 68 in the first round to help him post his fifth sub-par round of the season -- the most of any Wolverine.

• Kyle Mueller and Tom Swanson each led U-M with 11 birdies. Mueller and Brett McIntosh each posted an eagle as well.

• Chris O'Neill started his 28th consecutive event for U-M, while Brett McIntosh has played in 28 straight events.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Chris Whitten
On his overall thoughts on the Alister MacKenzie event ... "It was disappointing for sure. I thought, from preparation standpoint, the guys had really done a nice job. It's a scoreable course. It's not a course where you are going to outlast people by making pars. We just did not play the scoring holes well. We would get out of position on one of our shots and that would cost us. The thing about this course is when you are out of position it is really, really hard or almost impossible to get it into position to make birdie. It never felt like we were off by a lot in our games; however, scoring was tough for us this week."

On the challenges/strong competition U-M has faced during the fall season ... "We want to play a diverse schedule. We want to play nationally. We want to go to where the best teams are and play the best competition we can. So, this was more experience the guys can add; however, we are to the point where we need to come to an event like this and play better than we did this week. I know the guys expectations were higher than what we posted."

On the continued play of Kyle Mueller ... "The thing I really like about Kyle is his grit in competition. There have been days that during the warmups before these rounds that nothing really felt right going into it. He just seems to find a way to make it work on the course. He scores his ball well with whatever game he has and it is definitely working right now."

On preparing for the fall finale at Baylor's Royal Oaks Intercollegiate ..."We will have a full solid week of practice at home as well as an entire weekend to see who gives us the best chance to go play our best tournament. We know a little about the course, so we can tailor practice to get ready for it. Really it is just making sure the guys are confident and prepared to close the fall out strong."

Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423