Final round rally fails to help Hoosiers take over Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE -- The IU men's golf team earned its third top-five finish in the last four tournaments and its fifth consecutive top-10 finish by taking fifth place at the inaugural Boilermaker Invitational Sunday. \nThe Hoosiers were once again led by junior Jeff Overton who carded rounds of 72, 67 and 70 -- good enough for a 206 total and second place overall. \nIU entered Sunday's final round in ninth place, but with a third round score of 293, the team was able to finish fifth with a final team score of 878. \nThe Hoosiers finished ahead of nationally ranked teams -- eighth place No. 5 Oklahoma State and 10th place No. 18 Oklahoma -- reinforcing their belief they are among the best teams in the country.\n"I think we're one of the top teams in the nation," junior Heath Peters said. "We came up here and proved it the last couple days. I think that we just have to focus on what's ahead of us, and hopefully, this will give us the confidence to play well in the next few tournaments."\nThe late Hoosier rally was not enough to overcome tournament host and champion Purdue. \nThe Boilermakers took advantage of their home course, scoring 855 as a team. Purdue entered the final round 15 under par as a team, 11 strokes ahead of second-place Colorado. The Buffaloes made a last day charge of their own, finishing two strokes back of the winners, led by tournament champion Kane Webber's final round 66. But nothing could stop the Boilermakers on their home course.\n"Purdue really played well. It's nice (for them) that it was their home course, they probably knew where all the pins were," Overton said. "It was probably a little easier for them, but that's no excuse. To shoot the numbers they did was phenomenal." \nThe Boilermaker Invitational marks the beginning of a stretch of five tournaments in five weekends for the Hoosiers. With such a tough stretch ahead, IU coach Mike Mayer said he hopes this tournament will help prepare his team for the next few weeks.\n"Coming in here as the 10th highest ranked team, and finishing fifth, you've gotta feel good about that," Mayer said. "We didn't quite get there, but we're right on the verge of being there."\nThe Hoosiers will continue their schedule when they tee off in the Kepler Intercollegiate April 17 and 18 in Columbus, Ohio.\n-- Contact staff writer Charlie Gillingham at cgilling@indiana.edu.