OPELIKA, A.L. – Led by junior J.J. Grey’s second-place finish, Georgia State placed third on Tuesday, March 10th, 2015, at the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner. Grey’s final round 70 led the Panthers to an even par round of 288, to lead GSU to its second-best finish of the season.
Grey led or shared the lead for most of the day before Auburn’s Michael Johnson, who is ranked among the top 100 in the country, made four back-nine birdies to finish at 8-under and win the tournament. Grey finished 7-under for the 54-hole event, his best finish of the year.
After standing in eighth of 16 teams following the first round, Georgia State put together two of its best rounds of the year to finish only behind No. 8 Auburn and No. 50 Troy.
“I am really proud of the way we finished the last two days,” head coach Joe Inman said. “We are still not where we want to be, but we are definitely a lot closer after this tournament. We beat some very good teams this week, including a conference rival. It will definitely give us some momentum heading into Georgia’s tournament next Monday.”
Senior Davin White and sophomore Nathan Mallonee both added rounds of 72 on Tuesday to add to the Panthers final round total. White finished the event at 2-over and tied for 19th, while Mallonee finished 4-over and tied for 25th.
Freshman Alexander Herrmann saved his best round for the last day, shooting a 2-over 74 on Tuesday to move into a tie for 50th at 12-over par.
Senior Damon Stephenson shot a final round 76 to finish the event 16-over and tied for 69th.
Max Herrmann, competing as an individual, shot a final round 2-over 74 to finish the tournament at 2-over and tied for 19th. He has finished in the top 25 in all five tournaments he has competed in this season.
On the heels of a 12-under, 276, No. 8 Auburn ran away with the tournament, winning by 28 strokes over No. 50 Troy. The Tigers finished the 54-hole event at 25-under, while Troy finished 3-over. Georgia State was third followed by Sun Belt rival South Alabama in fourth at 12-over. No. 45 Ole Miss, VCU and Kansas State tied for fifth at 17-over.
Auburn’s Michael Johnson shot a final round 2-under, 70, to earn the one-stroke win over Grey. The Auburn trio of Ben Schlottman, No. 8 Matt Gilchrest and Will Long tied for third at 6-under.
Georgia State will return to the course March 16 for the Southern Intercollegiate in Athens, Ga., hosted by Georgia and GRU-Augusta.