KAUAI, Hawaii – Junior Hayden Shieh missed out on an individual title by three strokes, but his final round 5-under 67 allowed the Broncos to finish in a fifth-place tie with a 4-under 860 total, besting three teams ranked in the top 45 at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate.
Despite slipping a spot on the team leaderboard, the Broncos held their own in a tournament that fielded seven teams ranked in the Golfstat.com top-50 and 11 of the 18 in the top-100. Santa Clara entered with a ranking of 154 and scored a final round 2-over 290 to end in a tie with No. 67 Cal.
The three highest ranked teams in the tournament battled for the top spots with No. 4 Virginia placing four shots better than No. 18 Texas A&M and five-shots better than No. 23 UNLV. Santa Clara placed higher than No. 25 Kennesaw State, No. 41 Washington, No. 45 New Mexico, No. 56 UTEP, No. 77 Arizona and No. 98 Washington State.
"This is a great start to our spring," head coach Rob Miller said. "The guys are ecstatic for a top-5 finish in this event."
Shieh was a major reason for Santa Clara's success. He ended with a career-low score of 12-under 204 and was 11-under over the final two rounds. "Hayden was excited to play the way he knows he can play," Miller noted. "He was by far the best player over the last two days. To finish second in this tournament is probably his best finish."
Shieh was tied for the lead late in the final round until Texas A&M's Chandler Phillips, the 14th ranked player in the country, birdied the final three holes to pull away for a 3-shot victory.
"I was just focusing on making sure to stay safe and hit the fairways, that was most important," Shieh said of his career-best round.
Shieh finished his final round before Phillips, but he wasn't watching the leaderboard. "I don't pay attention to the scores," he said. "If I finish first I finish first, if I finish 10th I finish 10th."
With Charlie Watson ill, the Broncos needed Hassan Said to step up in the final round, and he did. The sophomore had his first counting score and the team's second-lowest of the day with a 1-over 73.
"Hassan was happy to contribute," Miller said. "We needed him in the final round when Charlie came down with the flu. He played very well with a lot of pressure on him."
Said moved up 16 spots on the individual leaderboard with his final round and ended in a tie for 82nd at 11-over 227. Watson carded a final round 82 to finish tied for 68th at 8-over 224.
Freshman Matt McCarty placed in a tie for 40th in the 109-player field with a 3-over 219 total. Michiel Eyre III displayed his consistency by carding three rounds of 74 to end in a tie for 60th at 6-over 222. Competing as an individual, Derek Ackerman shot a final round 1-over 73 to place in a tie for 63rd at 7-over 223.
The Broncos return to the links on Feb. 27 at the site of their last team title. Santa Clara captured the Arizona NIT last year and look to defend their title in Tucson, Ariz.
Santa Clara Final Individual Results
2. Hayden Shieh 71-66-67 = 204 (-12)
T40. Matt McCarty 71-72-76 = 219 (+3)
T60. Michiel Eyre III 74-74-74 = 222 (+6)
T68. Charlie Watson 71-71-82 = 224 (+8)
T82. Hassan Said 76-78-73 = 227 (+11)
Competing as an individual
T63. Derek Ackerman* 77-73-73 = 223 (+7)
