MSU Finishes Third In Smith’s Debut At Bearcat Intercollegiate

Tuesday, September 26

Cincinnati, Ohio (Coldstream CC)

All Day

Mississippi State

Bearcat Intercollegiate

MSU Finishes Third In Smith’s Debut At Bearcat Intercollegiate

September 26, 2017 | Men's Golf

CINCINNATI, Ohio. – Dusty Smith had quite the head coaching debut as his Mississippi State men's golf team posted the third lowest 54-hole finish in program history (835) to finish third at the Bearcat Invitational on Tuesday.

"Today was an exciting day," Smith said. "Our guys played hard the entire week and showed some grit today coming down the stretch. I am really proud of them."

The Bulldogs shot a 4-under 280 on Tuesday en route to finishing the two-day event at 17-under-par.

MSU was boosted by Peng Pichaikool's second-place finish. The sophomore shot 11-under-par over the three rounds, and finished only behind Kentucky's Tyler McDaniel (-12). Pichaikool also led the field with 19 birdies and tied his career-low tournament total (202).

"Peng had a great week this week and competed at a very high level, but most importantly, he helped our team out," Smith said.

Freshman Cameron Clarke and junior Austin Rose also finished in the top 20. Rose started the final round at 1-over, but he rallied with a 2-under 69 in his final round to finish 1-under.

"Austin Rose played a huge round shooting 69 today," Smith said.

Clarke had quite the MSU debut, following up consecutive rounds of 70 with an even-par 71 on Tuesday to finish 19th with a 2-under 211.

Redshirt freshman Griffin Agent finished his debut tournament tied for 37th at 3-over-par after firing a 72 in each of the three rounds.

Sophomore Garrett Johnson shot even-par on Tuesday and finished the tournament tied for 58th with a 222.

MSU sat in a tie for fifth after carding a 279 in Monday's opening round. That afternoon, Pichaikool's 5-under performance guided the Bulldogs to a 276 and into fourth through two rounds. The team's highest round came Tuesday as MSU shot 280, but it was still enough to allow them to jump into third place.

"We talked about playing our brand of golf, controlling what we can control and doing the little things well," Smith said. "As a whole, I thought we did a nice job of that, but there is always room for improvement and plenty for us to work on as we prepare for our next event.

"This tournament was just another step on our journey this season," Smith said. "We will get back to work and continue our goal of being a little bit better each day."

Mississippi State looks to continue the momentum of the season opener Oct. 9 when it heads to Old Overton Golf Course in Birmingham, Ala., for the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate.

For more information on the Bulldogs, follow the program on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching @HailStateMG.

Bearcat Intercollegiate
1. Kentucky (278+269+283=820, -32)
2. Arkansas (278+273+275=826, -26)
3. Mississippi State (279+276+280=835, -17)
4. Middle Tennessee State (283+276+277=836, -16)
5. Illinois (275+281+282=838, -14)
6. Ohio State (283+271+285=839, -13)
7. Louisville (278+284+278=840, -12)
8. Akron (292+277+284=853, +1)
9. Cincinnati (287+281+286=854, +2)
10. Michigan State (286+282+289=857, +5)
11. Xavier (294+282+290=866, +14)
12. College of Charleston (292+284+295=871, +19)

MSU Players
2. Peng Pichaikool (67+66+69=202, -11)
19. Cameron Clarke (70+70+71=211, -2)
T20. Austin Rose (73+70+69=143, -1)
T24. Taylor Grant (70+70+73=213, E)
T37. Griffin Agent (72+72+72=216, +3)
T65. Garrett Johnson (76+75+71=151, +9)