CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
PALM HARBOR, Fla. - The University of Memphis Tigers used a complete team effort and won the 2019 American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship by 12 strokes at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead Course. It is Memphis' first golf title in The American. SMU's Mac Meissner took the individual title and broke the tournament record with a 13-under, 200.
Memphis (even-par 852) had its four leading scorers all in the top-12 at 2-over or better. The Tigers overcame a one-stroke deficit in round one to go ahead in the second and never look back. Brad Bawden and Chase Harris both carded 2-under, 69's in the final round to help lock up the Tigers first American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship first conference title since 2012, first NCAA berth in three years and fifth league crown in program history.
SMU led by one after the first day and though they could not keep pace with the Tigers, the Mustangs were able to hold off a late charge by UCF (13-over, 865) and earn the runner-up trophy with a 12-over 864, taking it by a single stroke.
Meissner led from wire-to-wire and posted the best 54-hole score in American Athletic Conference Championship history. His 13-under ranks two strokes better than the previous mark set by USF' Ryan Fricker in 2015 at Black Diamond Ranch. His 200 at Copperhead also broke the previous best score in four championship seasons; a 7-under, 206 set by fellow Mustang Bryson DeChambeau in 2014.
Cincinnati's Austin Squires tied the best round in championship play at Copperhead with a 5-under, 66 on the final day. That mark was set on day one 2019 tournament and then replicated yesterday by Meissner. Squires tied DeChambeau's then-best tournament mark at 7-under, 206 to capture the individual runner-up trophy.
Title Tuesday featured eight cards of sub-70 golf as Meissner, Squires, Bawden and Harris were joined by UCF's Kyler Tate (68) and Clement Charmasson (69), USF's Luke Gifford (68) and UConn's Jimmy Hervol (69).
Each team in the 2019 Championship featured at least one competitor in the top-20 of the individual standings. Nine boasted at least one in the top-15 with eight teams represented in the top-10.
Memphis, UCF and USF each had two players in the top-10.