RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — The Georgia men’s golf team has won the Puerto Rico Classic, carding a 42-under-par, 822 total to win its first event of the year by three strokes on Tuesday morning.
Graduate Connor Creasy carded his second top-five finish after a 14-under, 202 total, tying his career 54-hole low, to tie for third individually. He finished the tournament with a 67, allowing Creasy to post sub-68 back-to-back rounds for the first time in his collegiate career. The Abingdon, Va. native finished the back nine with his eighth collegiate eagle, four birdies and four pars. Creasy is one of two players to record multiple eagles in the event.
This marks the first tournament the team has won since comingin first at the NCAA Bath Regional in May 2023. In 28 years leading the program, head coach Chris Haack has now led the team to at least one team win in 24 seasons. Georgia has claimed the Puerto Rico Classic for the fifth time in the event’s history, the third-most of any program.
The Bulldogs ended round three with a nine-under, 279 total, beating out No. 13 Virginia by three strokes after it surged to second place from a 21-under round. No. 6 Tennessee (38-under), No. 20 North Florida (37-under) and No. 15 Oklahoma (32-under) round out the top five. Georgia beat out eight teams ranked in the top 30 nationally to capture the win, including three ranked within the top 10. The Bulldogs’ final score of 822 is tied for the sixth-best tournament score in the event’s history.
“After we didn’t get off to the start we wanted to, the team stayed in the present, kept their focus and maintained their goal, which was to fight through the bitter end,” head coach Chris Haack said. “We were sparked by Connor shooting six-under on the back side. I’m really excited for our guys to get this win under the belt and gain a little confidence going into the rest of the spring.”
In addition to Creasy’s 67, Georgia counted Ben van Wyk’s 69, a two-under 70 from Buck Brumlow and a 73 from Caleb Manuel.
Van Wyk’s third round started on hole one after Creasy’s group, where the graduate student recorded four birdies, a bogey on four and 13 pars to end the event 12-under 204. By placing tied for eighth, van Wyk has now finished in the top 10 individually in his previous three collegiate events and for the 10th time in his career.
Brumlow capped off his 21st career event with consistent play with an eight-under 208 finish. The junior was par-or-better in all 18 holes in the third round, earning birdies on holes five and 18 for a two-under result. Manuel, a senior, capped off his best tournament of the year with a six-under, 210 score. He birdied holes two, 15 and 16. He upped his birdie total to 16 during the event, which was tied for the eighth-most in the field.
Camden Smith competed as an individual and had his best career finish with a seven-under 209 to tie for 26th. The freshman started on hole 17, recording 12 pars and birdies on 18, two, five and 12 to end the third round two-under.
Georgia’s next tournament of the spring will begin in 12 days as the team travels to Las Vegas to compete in the Southern Highlands Collegiate. The event, hosted by UNLV and played at the Southern Highlands Golf Club, will be played on Feb. 25-27.