Palmer Wins Louisiana Classics Title, Aggies Finish Fifth
Mar 10, 1998 | Men's Golf
March 10, 1998
Texas A&M junior Ryan Palmer (Amarillo) battled through cold, windy conditions to card a final-round 74 and capture the individual title at the Louisiana Classics Tuesday at Oakbourne Country Club.
Palmer's gutty final round gave him a three-round total of 70-73-74=217, two strokes ahead of runners-up Jamie Rogers of Nebraska (75-70-74=219) and Casey Brown of Arkansas (71-71-77=219). The victory was Palmer's second as a collegian and first since transferring to A&M from North Texas in 1996. Palmer won the 1996 Southland Conference title as a freshman.
As a team, the No. 25-ranked Aggies placed fifth, 14 strokes behind tournament champion Tulsa. Tulsa carded the day's best round at 295 for a totel of 896 and A&M had the second best round at 301 for a 910 total. Arkansas and Nebraska tied for third at 901, followed by Kansas at 909.
"I was very proud of the way Ryan played under some very tough conditions," A&M coach Bob Ellis said. "It was very cold and windy all day with the temperature around 40 degrees, so it was not ideal golf weather. Sometimes that can get frustrating but Ryan hung in there and prevailed. Some of our other guys played pretty well, too, but we just couldn't make up the ground we lost on Monday."
Also representing A&M, senior Miguel del Angel (McAllen) tied for 19th at 76-77-75=228, freshman Ryan Tull (Georgetown) tied for 27th at 76-79-75=230, junior Matt Welch (DeSoto) tied for 49th at 78-80-78=236 and sophomore Lee Reed (Rigby, Idaho) tied for 64th at 81-81-77=239. Freshman Clay Fullick (Baytown), competing as an individual, also tied for 64th at 79-75-85=239.
The Aggies are back in action March 28-29 when they play host to the 46th Annual Border Olympics at Laredo Country Club.
