EL PASO, Texas - Last Season at the Price's ‘Give ‘Em 5†Invitational Antoine Rozner
broke the UMKC record and the tournament record with an -18, 197 on his way to a tournament victory. This year, the Paris, France native repeated as the champion, finishing one shot better and rebreaking both the school record and tournament record with a -19, 197 at the Butterfield Trails Golf Club in El Paso, Texas.
Rozner opened the event hot on Friday, birdieing the first two holes, a par-4 and a par-5. He added two more birdies on the front nine, before starting the back nine with a birdie on the par-3 10th. After a pair of pars, Rozner tallied his sixth opening round birdie on 13 and followed with an eagle on the par-5 14th. Two bogeys and a birdie followed on the next three holes, but Rozner closed out the round with a bang by eagling the par-5 18th for a UMKC record 63. In the round, Rozner played the four par-5's at six-under.
Rozner continued his steady play in round two, carding just one bogey, while adding six birdies for a 67. In the final round, Rozner carded his second straight 67, this time playing the course bogey-free with five birdies, including three straight on 13-15, giving the ‘Roo the wire-to-wire win by five shots. In the tournament, Rozner played hole 18 at -4, carding the eagle and two birdies.
With the win, Rozner moves into second on the UMKC wins list with four, trailing only the seven tournament victories by Robert Russell. He now owns two of the top-five rounds in school history and three of the top-five tournament scores, including the top-two. This season, over nine rounds, Rozner has only finished a round above 72 one time, carding a 73 at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational.
Francois Lagraulet continued his strong play in his debut season for the ‘Roos, who finished in sixth spot at -14, as Rozner's fellow Frenchman tied for 22nd at -3. Lagraulet opened with a three birdie 71 in the first round and followed with a six birdie 72 in round two. In his best round, a third round 70, Lagraulet tallied five birdies, three on the front nine and two on the back nine.
Thibault Vieilledent, meanwhile, finished in a tie for 52nd at +4 and Cameron Wiltse tied for 69th at +9, while Jakob Garstecki rounded out the lineup at +11 in a tie for 76th.
Kansas won the team title in the event by 11 shots over St. Mary's and 12 shots over host UTEP.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again on Nov. 2-4 when they close out their fall slate with a trip to Hawaii for the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational.