Sept. 9, 2008

By Kyle Herm
www.SIUSalukis.com

PINEVILLE, Ky. - The Southern Illinois men's golf team claimed its first tournament victory since 2004 after shooting a final-round 2-over-par 290 Tuesday to win the season-opening Wasioto Winds Fall Kick-off Classic.

SIU entered the final day of competition at the par-72, 7,037-yard Wasioto Winds Golf Course with a 10-stroke lead, and held off tournament host Morehead State to win by eight shots.

SIU's last team tournament win came at the 13-team John Dallio Memorial on September 28, 2004.

"We played under pressure today and handled it very well," said head coach Leroy Newton. "When you have the lead you have to play steady, and I'm happy with how we finished."

The Salukis got a big lift in the final day from seniors Todd Obergoenner and Phillip Collier who fired a 4-under-par 68, and 2-under 70 to lead SIU's scoring.

"Even though we didn't have our A game, we all played pretty well," said Obergoenner. "We entered the final day with the lead here last year and finished second, so it was great for our team confidence to have won this time."

Obergoenner's final-round 68 ranks tied for fifth all-time among the program's third round individual scores.

"We still have some things to work on," said Obergoenner. "But I'm very excited with the potential this team has."

Southern Illinois placed four out of its five golfers in the top 20, and had its individual participant junior Jordan Cox finish tied for fourth with a 1-over-par 217.

Junior Blake Driskell finished tied for sixth at 2-over for the tournament (218) after carding a 4-over 76 in the final 18 holes, and Obergoenner tied for eighth place at 3-over-par 219.

Tournament host Morehead State shot an even-par 288 to take second (14-over, 878), UT-Martin shot a 3-under 285 to move into third (16-over, 880), and Northern Kentucky (21-over, 885) and Lipscomb (31-over, 895) each fell back a spot to finish fourth and fifth.

Southern Illinois will have a week off before continuing play at the JSU National Invitational in Tunica, Miss. Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 22-23.

Final Standings
1. Southern Illinois University 288-292-290--870 (+6)
2. Morehead State University 299-291-288--878 (+14)
3. Tennessee-Martin 296-299-285--880 (+16)
4. Northern Kentucky University 296-299--885 (+21)
5. Lipscomb University 292-299-304--895 (+31)
6. Bellarmine University 301-298-298--897 (+33)
7. John A. Logan College 300-298-300--898 (+34)
8. Walters State College 307-299-293--899 (+35)

Southern Illinois Individual Results
*T4. Jordan Cox 71-77-69--217 (+1)
T6. Blake Driskell 68-74-76--218 (+2)
T8. Todd Obergoenner 77-74-68--219 (+3)
T13. Phillip Collier 71-79-70--220 (+4)
T16. Patrick Scheil 72-73-76--221 (+5)
45. Luke Daily 78-71-86--235 (+19)
*Participated as an individual