Feb. 27, 2007

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Houston - With its top two players getting off to a slow start in the third and final round, the University of Houston men's golf team finished in fifth place at the All-American Intercollegiate Invitational on the Tradition at the Cypresswood Golf Club on Tuesday morning.

"We had a slow start that we just could not overcome," Houston had coach Vince Jarrett said. "(Jordan Irwin and Pablo Acuna) got into trouble on the fourth hole when they found the water on a par four hole. As a team, it tough to overcome when your top guys don't shoot a low (score)."

Irwin finished the third round with a six-over-par score of 78 to finish the tournament tied for 13th place with an overall score of four-over-par, 220. Pablo Acuna also finished the third round with a five-over par, 77. He finished the tournament in 38th place with a three-round total of 10-over-par, 226.

Houston's top three performers in the final round were Ricky Romano, Todd Bissenden and Jackie Lindsey. Romano finished the third round with a one-over-par score of 73, while Bissenden shot two-over-par 74, and Jackie Lindsey finished the final round with four-over par 76.

Romano was Houston's top finisher in the tournament when he finished in a three-way tie for sixth place. Romano shot a one over par throughout the tournament with a three-day total of 217.

Bissenden tied for 31st place with a three-day total of nine-over-par score of 225, and Lindsey finished in 54th place at 17 over par.

"Our three, four and five guys had fantastic days. Todd did his job shooting a two-over-par," Jarrett added. "Ricky struck the ball well again and Jackie played really well."

Houston also had five other players competing in the tournament as individuals. Steven Frazier finished in 38th place with a 10-over-par score of 226. Chad Marti shot a three-day total of 232, 16 over par, while Ashish Patel posted a three-day score of 239, Graham Veile had a score of 242 and Rian Butler finished with a score 243.

"Our goal in these first couple of tournaments was to get the rust off. We should have a solid weekend at the Cajun Classic. We'll keep building and hopefully hit our peek at the Conference USA Tournament that will allow us to get back to the NCAA Regional Championships."

The University of Kansas was the team champion with a three-day total of 872 after shooting even par (288) each of the final two rounds in the tournament. Lamar finished one shot back with a score of 873 after shooting one-under as a team in the final round. Southeastern Louisiana and Middle Tennessee State tied for third place with a score of 878, eight shots ahead of Houston.

Gary Woodland of Kansas was the individual champion with a five-under-par total of 211 after shooting one-under par in the final round. He finished four shots ahead of teammate Tyler Docking and five shots ahead of Daniel Willett of Jacksonville State.