AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Oklahoma State senior Kevin Tway birdied the final two holes Sunday afternoon to deliver the top-ranked Cowboys to a one-shot victory over Tennessee in the Insperity Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club.
Tway made it a clean sweep for OSU, claiming medalist honors with a 1-under 71 and a 54-hole total of 12-under 204 to notch a five-shot victory. Augusta State's Olle Bengtsson fired his second straight, 5-under 67 to finish second and register his best career showing at 7-under 209 (75-67-67). Alabama freshman Cory Whitsett (69-72-69) and Tennessee's Garrick Porteous (68-73-69) tied for third at 6-under 210 and UCLA's Gregor Main was fifth at 5-under 211 (73-70-68).
Clemson placed third with a 4-under 284, while Alabama was fourth and the ASU "B" team took fifth. Bengtsson and teammate Jacob Carlsson, along with Washington's Chris Williams, turned in the day's best rounds. Sparked by the senior duo, the Jags "B" team fashioned the best round of the day -- a 7-under 281 -- and improved three spots up from eighth.
"Today was a lot of fun out there," said Bengtsson, a fifth-year senior from Gothenburg, Sweden. "We were motivated to finish as high as we could. We knew we were capable of playing like this and playing here in our home event for the last time as member of the program was special."
ASU's starting lineup of seniors Mitch Krywulycz, Carter Newman and Henrik Norlander, junior Patrick Reed and freshman Alex Wennstam produced its best round of the tourney -- a 1-over 289 -- but finished seventh, its lowest finish of the season.
Oklahoma State tallied a wire-to-wire victory en route to its sixth win of the season, although the Cowpokes were briefly overtaken by Tennessee on the back nine. OSU shot 4-over on the day but combined to shoot 2-under over the final 10 holes, including birdies from Tway, Talor Gooch and Drew Page on the drivable, par-4 18th.
"That was pretty exciting out there, especially to make it up with five birdies late," said Cowboys' head coach Mike McGraw. "Kevin has played really well all year but hadn't won anything yet. I didn't see this as a rematch with Augusta State. We were just trying to get better and it was a great challenge for us. They treat you well at this tourney and its one of the best held anywhere. Anytime you have a chance to play with the best teams in the nation you should do it."
The No. 6 Jaguars, who won back-to-back Insperity ASU Invite titles in 2009 and 2010, were paced by Krywulycz's 1-under 71 and his tie for 10th at 1-under 215. Norlander birdied two of his last three for his third straight 72 and tied for 12th at even-par 216. Reed managed a 72 and tied for 42nd, Newman signed for a 74 and was 45th and Wennstam was 54th after a 3-over 75 at 8-over 224.
The Jags are back in action on April 16-17 in the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Complete, full-field results of the Insperity ASU Invitational are available at www.golfstat.com.
