Mueller, O'Neill Place Top 30 at Aggie Invitational

Sunday, April 5

Bryan, Texas

7:30 AM CT

Michigan

The Aggie Invitational

4/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

April 5, 2015

Chris O'Neill

• Notes & Quotes

Site: Bryan, Texas
Course: Traditions Golf Club (Par 72, 7,146 yards)
Tournament: The Aggie Invitational
U-M Team Standing: 9th Place of 13 Teams (318-302-299/919)
Top U-M Individual: Kyle Mueller, tie-21st (74-73-78/225)
Next U-M Event: Sat-Sun., April 11-12 -- at Robert Kepler Intercollegiate (Columbus, Ohio)

BRYAN, Texas -- Using its best round of the event -- a final-round 299 -- the University of Michigan men's golf team improved two positions to finish ninth with a 919 team total today (Sunday, April 5) at Texas A&M's Aggie Invitational held at the Traditions Club.

After nearly a month away from a tournament, the Wolverines showed some signs of being away from competitive play early on as well as being met with strong winds in Saturday's (April 4) opening round. Despite freshman Kyle Mueller's opening two-over 74, the Wolverines scrambled through the first 18 holes, posting a 318 team tally, which positioned U-M 12th.

As the winds calmed on the day's second 18, so did the Wolverine scoring as Mueller dropped a shot to once again lead U-M with a one-over 73 as a pair of birdies eliminated two of his three of bogeys in the round. Junior Chris O'Neill rebounded from an opening 79 to card a two-over 74 in the second round as the Wolverines dropped 16 shots to post a 302 tally and move to 11th.

In today's final round, sophomores Reed Hrynewich and Bryce Evon guided U-M to a closing 299 team total. Hrynewich tallied five birdies, including a run of four straight on the back side, to lead the five starters with an even-par 72. Evon remained steady all day, posting a two-over 74 as he had 14 pars and a birdie along with three bogeys.

Individually, Mueller led U-M for the seventh time in nine events with his sixth top-25 finish of the season, tying for 21st at 225 (74-73-78). O'Neill tied for 29th at 228 (79-74-75), while Evon rounded out the top three, tying for 36th at 230 (79-77-74). Paced with his closing 72, Hrynewich bounced back from an opening 86 to tie for 50th at 236 (86-78-72), while junior Andrew Yeager tied for 65th at 244 (86-78-80).

The Wolverines will return to tournament action next weekend (Sat-Sun., April 11-12) when they travel to Columbus, Ohio, for Ohio State's Kepler Intercollegiate. The 54-hole event will be played at the prestigious Scarlet Course on the campus. U-M makes its return to the Kepler for the first time in seven seasons. The Maize and Blue last played in OSU's event in 2008, finishing ninth with a 928 total.

Final Standings

 1. Oklahoma           302-288-294 = 884 2. Texas Tech         308-291-288 = 887 3. Arkansas           298-293-297 = 888 4. LSU                297-298-296 = 891 5. Texas A&M          303-287-304 = 894 6. New Mexico State   301-289-311 = 901 7. California         307-297-302 = 906 8. North Texas        311-296-308 = 915 9. MICHIGAN           318-302-299 = 91910. UTSA               315-300-311 = 92611. Kent State         314-297-317 = 92812. Bowling Green      312-326-301 = 93913. Princeton          336-321-319 = 976

Top Individuals

 1. K.K. Limbhasut, California     73-69-72 = 214 (-2) 2. Kolton Crawford, Arkansas      72-72-72 = 216 3. Ben Crancer, Texas A&M         75-66-77 = 218    Wes Artac, Texas Tech          73-70-75 = 218* 5. Zach Wright, LSU               69-76-75 = 220    Pat Beyhan, New Mexico State   72-70-78 = 220 7. Hannes Ronneblad, Texas Tech   77-74-70 = 221    Esteban Restrepo, Texas Tech   74-76-71 = 221    Grant Hirschman, Oklahoma      78-71-72 = 221

Michigan Individuals

T21. Kyle Mueller     74-73-78 = 225T29. Chris O'Neill    79-74-75 = 228T36. Bryce Evon       79-77-74 = 230T50. Reed Hrynewich   86-78-72 = 236T65. Andrew Yeager    86-78-80 = 244

N O T E S

• With his start at the Aggie Invitational, Chris O'Neill increased his consecutive-event played streak to 33 starts. He has yet to miss an event in three seasons.

• Kyle Mueller has finished as the top Wolverine in seven of the nine events this season. O'Neill is the only other U-M player to lead the Maize and Blue this season (two events).

• Chris O'Neill and Kyle Mueller are the only Wolverines to start all nine events this season.

• Bryce Evon and Andrew Yeager each started their second straight event for the Wolverines. Evon has six total on the season, while Yeager has three.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Chris Whitten
On the Aggie Invitational ... "We were happy to play in Texas A&M's tournament. It's really a difficult golf course, which is great for us because it does and can only help get us get prepared for our postseason push. The first day in the morning was really windy and the course played really dry and hard -- as well as the greens were really fast. For us, having not played a tournament in about a month, I definitely saw more rust than what we were hoping for. The weather got better in the second round and in today's final round. With that, our games got better with each round and we improved each round, which was a good sign. We shot one of the more competitive rounds in the final round and we will use that going forward into Ohio State's event next weekend. I felt as we reached the end of this event we had our rhythm back."

On the play of the Wolverines ... "Kyle (Mueller) played really good yesterday. It wasn't necessarily his best ball striking, but he made it work. That is what makes him so consistent. It was good to see Reed (Hrynewich) and Bryce (Evon) bounce back today with two really good, solid rounds. Chris (O'Neill) was steady again as he normally is. He did a fair amount of scrambling a bit today, but it was good to see his short game in good shape."

On getting back to the Midwest for the regular season finale ... "We are looking forward to playing next week at Ohio State's event. It will be good to play in the Midwest. The Scarlet Course really sets up well for our team. So, we look forward to it and having another good showing the regular season finale."

Communications Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423