NAPLES, Fla. – Despite a career-low-tying 2-under 69 from sophomore Jordan Miller, the FGCU men's golf team finished in 12th place at the competitive Talis Park Challenge following a final-round 297 total on Monday at the Talis Park Golf Club.
 
The Eagles posted a three-round, two-day 876 total to finish just two shots behind 11th-place Toledo and only seven shots out of a top-five showing in their spring-opening tournament. No. 6 LSU posted its second-straight round of 276 to claim the 15-team tournament with an 838 total, four shots clear of No. 5 Vanderbilt.
 
Miller (Bradenton, Fla./Bradenton Christian HS) broke 70 for just the second time in his young career, matching the 69 (-3) he shot in the second round at the Pinetree Intercollegiate this past fall. He opened his day with a par on the par-4 9th but quickly bogeyed the par-4 10th before getting back on track with consecutive birdies on 11 and 12. His scorecard remained in the red before a bogey on the par-4 16th.
 
However, like he did after his first bogey of the day, Miller immediately responded with a birdie on the par-3 17th after stuffing his tee shot about 10 feet right of a front-right pin on the 205-yard hole which statistically played the hardest on Monday, yielding just two birdies. Miller made the turn at -1 but moved back to even following a bogey on the par-4 1st, but posted five pars and a pair of birdies on 4 and 8 coming in to post the 2-under round under pretty ideal conditions.
 
The 69 capped a round-by-round improvement for Miller, who posted a 76 in Sunday's opening round before closing the day with an afternoon 73. His three-round 218 total (+5) was second-best on the FGCU roster and good for a tie for 31st overall – 20 spots higher than where he finished Sunday's action.
 
The best FGCU finish came from junior Jake Sherwin (Fort Myers, Fla./Evangelical Christian HS), who entered the day tied for the tournament lead at -7 after posting rounds of 67 (-4) and 68 (-3) on Sunday. However, after not recording a single bogey during Sunday's 36 holes, Sherwin had six on Monday against just one birdie as he signed for a 76 and a tie for 10th finish overall with a 211 (-2) total.
 
"The whole team is disappointed in the final results today. Jake had a 76 with three balls in the water, but had a good tournament overall finishing in the top 10 in the field. Jordan finally got the putter rolling to shoot a 69. The other three had one or two holes that ruined their rounds," stated FGCU head coach Eric Booker, alluding to each of the other three players in his lineup recording at least one double bogey or worse. "The positive side of all of this is we were only seven shots out of finishing in the top 5 which adds up to one or two bad holes from a few players. We need to walk away from this event and realize that we just ran out of holes. Looking back, the team needs to remember that when you feel like you're miles away from playing good golf you're really just seconds away or just one shot away."
 
Sherwin was one of three Eagles to post a final-round 76 as junior Austin Schultz (Lakeland, Fla./Florida Southern College/Lee Virtual Instructional Program) and Keaton Jones (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's HS) each finished with the 5-over round and tied for 57th and 62nd overall, respectively, with totals of 225 and 227. Senior Blake Biggs (Peoria, Ill./Eastern Florida State College/Peoria Notre Dame HS) rounded out the Eagles' lineup with a final-round 79 for a 239 total.
 
FGCU was competing for the first time in nearly five months as the second-year tournament hosted by Ball State University featured four teams ranked in the top 100 of the Golfweek Rankings.
 
The invitational was also the first of four in four-straight weeks for FGCU as the Eagles will next head to Alabama to tee it up in the Grub Mart Intercollegiate hosted by Jacksonville State University. The three-day, three-round tournament gets underway on Sunday, Mar. 22, and concludes Tuesday, Mar. 25, and will take place at Silver Lakes – one of the courses on the famed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.
 
FGCU Individual Scores
T-10) Jake Sherwin (67-68-76: 211 / -2)
T-31) Jordan Miller (76-73-69: 218 / +5)
T-57) Austin Schultz (73-76-76: 225 / +12)
T-62) Keaton Jones (80-71-76: 227 / +14)
75) Blake Biggs (75-85-79: 239 / +26)
 
Tournament Field (Golfweek Rankings)
1) #6 LSU (286-276-276: 838 / -14)
2) #5 Vanderbilt (276-284-282: 842 / -10)
3) #118 Wichita State (276-290-284: 850 / -2)
4) #46 Texas A&M (284-283-291: 858 / +6)
5) #185 Northern Illinois (282-290-297: 869 / +17)
6) #120 Miami (Ohio) (290-292-288: 870 / +18)
T-7) #77 Michigan State (285-293-293: 871 / +19)
T-7) #161 Xavier (292-289-290: 871 / +19)
9) #114 Eastern Michigan (289-290-293: 872 / +20)
10) #138 Notre Dame (290-292-291: 873 / +21)
11) #131 Toledo (295-285-294: 874 / +22)
12) #166 FGCU (291-288-297: 876 / +24)
13) #167 Ball State (289-298-297: 884 / +32)
14) #178 Akron (294-301-297: 892 / +40)
15) #128 Indiana (301-304-302: 907 / +55)
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For schedule updates, news and information, visit FGCUAthletics.com. For the latest news and behind-the-scenes access to information, photos and videos, follow@FGCU_MGolf on Twitter.
 
COACH BOOKER
FGCU is led by coach Eric Booker, a member of the PGA Tour and Web.com Tour (formerly the Nationwide Series) for portions of 17 years from 1990-2007. Booker finished in the top-5 three times in tournaments on the PGA Tour and also played in the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. He played in 62 career events on the PGA Tour, with his best finish being a tie for 3rd at the 1999 Honda Classic.
 
HELP THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.