Duke & Tennessee-Chattanooga Share Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic Title

Monday, October 8

Durham, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two

Duke & Tennessee-Chattanooga Share Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic Title

10/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C. ? Duke and Tennessee-Chattanooga battled all day in the final round of the Coca-Cola Classic before both teams walked away from the event with a share of the tournament championship. Senior Michael Schachner sank a pressure-filled four-foot putt for par on No. 18 to secure the tie and the Blue Devils first title under first-year head coach O.D. Vincent. Duke overcame an early five-shot deficit in the final round to shoot a six-under 282, while UTC mounted a late charge after falling behind three strokes to close the day with an eight-under 280.

“I thought they played great today. We turned a something like minus-one, so playing the back nine the way they did was phenomenal,” said Vincent. “We played holes No. 12-15 very well and that was nice to see. I told them I would meet them on the back of No. 15 green and let them know where we stood. I told them it is just about a dead heat. We need to learn how to finish those last three holes, so getting that experience for postseason is fabulous. “It was nice to be here at home and see the fans that came out. These guys should feel very, very good about their accomplishment.”

After playing the opening eight holes at 10-over in the final round, Duke turned things around on holes No. 9 ? No. 14. The Blue Devils played the six-hole stretch at 16-under with 14 birdies, one eagle and no bogeys. Duke carded just four bogeys total on the back nine on Monday and finished Nos. 10-18 at 11-under par.

Duke, ranked 13th in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches Poll, closed the tournament with a 22-under 842 (287-273-282). Tennessee-Chattanooga, rated sixth overall in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, matched the Blue Devils at 22-under. Notre Dame fired a four-under 284 in the closing round to finish second at seven-under (857). Ohio State and Virginia Tech rounded out the top five with matching six-under 858s.

Tennessee-Chattanooga's Jonathan Hodge claimed the individual crown with a 12-under 204. He shot a five-under 67 on Monday and nearly secured the team title for the Mocs on No. 18 but his eight-foot birdie putt slid by the high side of the hole. Eric Onesi (Old Dominion) also shot a five-under 67 in the final round to finish second with a nine-under 207. Sophomore Adam Long (Duke) claimed third place with an eight-under 208 (70-68-70), while Schachner (Duke) and Patrick Simard (Ohio State) tied for fourth at seven-under (209). Junior Clark Klaasen just missed his third top 10 finish in four events with a tie for 11th at the event. Klaasen shot a closing round 67 (-5) to climb 28 spots in the individual standings.

Klaasen opened with seven straight pars on Monday before carding a birdie on the par 3 eighth hole. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native added a birdie on No. 9 after narrowly missing a 15-foot putt for eagle. After a par on No. 10, Klaasen knocked a four-iron 15-feet past the hole on No. 12 and sank the putt for an eagle to move to four-under on the day. He added a birdie on the par 5 14th hole and capped off his bogey-free round with four straight pars to match his season best score of 67 (-5). Klaasen has now finished in the top 25 in all four events this fall, including a pair of top 10 showings.

“I felt a lot better today. I was really well rest and focused,” said Klaasen. “My mental approach was so much better and so much sharper today. I felt comfortable over the ball and everything else felt really good. It was one of those rounds were everything seems to come easy.”

Long played his first eight holes of the final round at even-par with one birdie (No. 2), one bogey (No. 3) and six pars before starting a run with a birdie on the par 5 ninth hole. The St. Louis, Mo., native tacked on birdies on No. 11, No. 12 and No. 14 to play the six-hole stretch of No. 9 ? No. 14 at four-under. Long ran out of steam with a bogey on No. 16 and slipped back to two-under with a bogey on No. 17, before recovering with a par on No. 18 to shoot a two-under 70. Long has recorded three top 25 finishes, including a third place showing at the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic.

Schachner, a senior from Libertyville, Ill., fired an even-par 72 in the final round to cap off his second top 10 finish of the fall season. He started slowly with a bogey on No. 3 and a double-bogey on No. 7 before carding his first birdie of the day on the par 5 ninth hole. Duke closed the final round with three birdies on No. 9 and played the hole at nine-under for the tournament. Schachner parred No. 10 and No. 11 before moving to one-under with birdies on No. 12, No. 13 and No. 14. After a bogey on No. 16, he carded clutch pars on the final two holes to help Duke maintain a share of the tournament lead.

“I played well yesterday and played pretty well on the back nine today,” said Schachner. “I was shaky on the opening nine. Something in my swing didn't feel right, but I figured it out on the back side and started playing better.”

Freshman Wes Roach also started slowly on Monday, playing to front side of the Duke University Golf Club at three-over (39). The Knoxville, Tenn., native bounced back with birdies on No. 11, No. 14 and No. 16 to get back to even-par before finishing bogey-par to shoot a one-over 73. Matthew Pierce, a freshman from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., posted a two-over 74 in the final round. He was five-over with two bogeys and a triple-bogey on the front nine, before carding birdies on No. 10, No. 14 and No. 15 to get back to two-over. Roach and Pierce both posted their first top 25 finishes of the season, finishing tied for 20th and tied for 25th, respectively.

The Blue Devils also had several individuals in action at their lone home tournament of the year. Senior Skip Murphy and sophomore Eric Schultz led the group with three-over 219s to finish tied for 28th. Schultz fired a two-under 70 in the final round with four birdies and an eagle. Sophomore Jeff Edelman shot his second straight round of even-par 72 to finish tied for 39th with a four-over 220, while senior Bryce Mueller shot a five-over 221 to tie for 47th. Junior Justin Hare finished tied for 50th with a 222 (+6), while Andrew Giuliani and Brian Kim finished tied for 60th and tied for 67th, respectively.

Duke returns to action Oct. 27-29 at the GCAA Collegiate Match Play at Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, Ga. Last season, Duke posted wins over UNLV, Clemson and Georgia to finish fifth at the prestigious match play event.

Notes

*** Duke last one the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic in 2005. The Blue Devils shot a 10-under 854 to win the 2005 title

*** Long (-1, 2.92), Klaasen (E, 3.00) and Schachner (E, 3.00) all finished among the top 10 in the par 3 scoring ... Schachner (-3, 3.90) and Long (E, 4.00) were in the top 10 in par 4 scoring ... Long (-7, 4.42), Klaasen (-6, 4.50), Roach (-6, 4.50), Edelman (-6, 4.50) and Schultz (-4, 4.67) were among the tournament leaders in par 5 scoring

*** Klaasen and Schultz tied for the tournament lead with two eagles ... Edelman, Long, Pierce and Roach also recorded eagles for the Blue Devils

*** Schachner was tied for second in birdies with 15 ... Long was tied for third with 14 ... Mueller carded 13 birdies - tied for eighth ... Edelman also finished among the tournament leaders with 11 birdies

*** Murphy and Giuliani were tied for fourth with 39 pars apiece ... Schultz and Klaasen also ranked among the leaders with 37 and 36 pars, respectively

Quotes

Head Coach O.D. Vincent
On finishing tied with Tennessee-Chattanooga
“It happens quite a bit. The teams are so close now a days and what you learn is that every shot means a lot. Tennessee-Chattanooga came into the event ranked sixth in the country and they are every bit that good. They are a great team.”

Clark Klaasen
“I hit a lot of good shots today and had a lot of good birdie opportunities. I got a little impatient early on because I wasn't able to capitalize on some good shots. I just tried to stay patient and No. 11 was really the turning point in my round. I hit a four-iron from 225 to the middle of the green and ended up making an eagle, which really got me going. The key was never getting in trouble. I never had to make a putt longer than three feet for par today. I was never really in danger of making bogey.”

“It feels pretty good having a share of the championship. It is kind of weird being in a tie, I wish we had a playoff, but it does feel good. It feels good a lot of guys stepped up this week in different ways. We played all right, but we still need to improve. It was definitely nice feeling the heat coming down the stretch. The more times you are in that situation to more comfortable you feel. I felt a little more nervous down the stretch today but I still hit a lot of good shots, which lets me know that I can do it again in the future.”

Adam Long
“I am pleased with the way I played all week. I finished third but my goal was to just give myself a chance to win the tournament with nine holes left. I had that opportunity so I can't be too disappointed. This is big for us as a team. We talked about winning all year and this being our last tournament of the fall it is definitely important for us to finish in first. Our goal this year is to win four tournaments and this is our first one.”