For the second consecutive year, Cincinnati’s Austin Squires has won the Firestone Invitational. The junior outlasted 85 competitors, carding a final-round even par 72 Tuesday to repeat as individual medalist at 8-under 71-65-72=208 at the Firestone Country Club (Par 72, 7,125 yards) in Akron, Ohio.
Squires held off Akron’s Elliott Grayson, who finished second at 6-under 71-65-74=210. For the event, Squires registered an eagle, 13 birdies and 34 par scores over 54 holes of play.
Squires becomes the fifth Bearcat in school history to win multiple collegiate golf tournaments and the first since Joe Young and Geoff Newman won two each from 2004-2007.
The 2017 American Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Squires won the same event in 2016 in dramatic fashion, posting an eagle on the final hole that also gave the Bearcats the team crown. He finished last year’s event at 11-under 69-68-68=205.
As a unit, Cincinnati recorded the lowest final-round team score among the 16 teams competing Tuesday but fell one stroke shy of repeating as team champions. The Bearcats finished the event at 4-under 291-282-287=860 while Illinois State won the team crown at 5-under 282-282-295=859.
Sophomore Jake Fox tied for 10th place at even par 75-70-71=216. After a slow start to the tournament, he settled in to post 10 birdies and 21 par scores over his final 36 holes. Senior Davis Baxter finished one stroke behind Fox in 14th place at 1-over 74-73-70=217. Baxter’s final round was highlighted by five birdies. Redshirt freshman Andy Mayhew climbed 10 spots on Tuesday to finish tied for 38th place at 9-over 71-80-74=225.