Hogs win Gator Invitational

Arkansas coach Brad McMakin, left, talks with Charles Kim during the second round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday, May 28, 2016, at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
Arkansas coach Brad McMakin, left, talks with Charles Kim during the second round of the NCAA Championships on Saturday, May 28, 2016, at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.

The No. 29 Arkansas men's golf team fired a final round 1-under 288 to hold off No. 35 Missouri, Jacksonville and No. 2 Florida on its home course to capture the 15-team SunTrust Gator Invitational on Sunday.

Arkansas shot 1-under 279 on Sunday and finished the tournament at 5-over par, seven strokes clear of Missouri and Jacksonville, who tied for second at 12-over.

The Razorbacks were led by sophomore Charles Kim, who took medalist honors with a birdie on No. 18 to edge Missouri's Rory Franssen by one stroke. Kim shot an even par 70 on Sunday and beat the field with a 6-under at the three-round event at the Mark Bostick Golf Course on the Florida campus in Gainesville, Ga.

The hot hand on Sunday for Arkansas was freshman Luis Garza, who had three birdies and an eagle in the span of five holes on the front nine and finished the day at 3-under. Garza tied for 16th overall.

Arkansas' other counting scores on Sunday came from freshmen Mason Overstreet and Dylan Naidoo, who each shot 2-over. Overstreet tied for 12th overall and Naidoo tied for 33rd. Freshman William Buhl got off to a good start at 2-under through eight holes, but a triple bogey on the par 3 No.8 led to a slide and he finished 5-over for the day.

Arkansas Coach Brad McMakin, in his 11th season with the Razorbacks, notched his 24th team victory. Arkansas has one at least one tournament each year under McMakin.

Host Florida pulled within one stroke of the Razorbacks about midway through the round with Alejandro Tosti and Andy Zhang leading the charge, but the Gators fell back and wound up in fourth place.

Kim and Franssen were followed by Raul Pereda (-2) of Jacksonville, Cristobal Del Solar (Even) and Ryan Jahn (Even) of Jacksonville in the top five.

No. 30 Florida State finished fifth at 20-over, followed by Georgia Southern (+23), Central Florida (+27), North Florida (+27), Liberty (+28), South Florida (+29), No. 12 Wake Forest (+29), North Texas (+37), College of Charleston (+37), Alabama-Birmingham (+49) and Troy (+53).

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