TEXARKANA, Ark. – Gustav Fransson of Old Dominion men's golf shot a final-round 2-under 70 en route to a 9-under 207 (70-67-70) and a third-place finish at the Conference USA Men's Golf Championship, held at the par-72, 6,969-yard Texarkana Country Club. Fransson was named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team for placing in the top-five.
"It was an exciting finish to the tournament today, and we had a chance to make the top four at one point during the final round but did not finish very well at the end," head coach Murray Rudisill said. "Sixth was still a very good showing for us, and I'm very proud of our guys. I know the guys are disappointed in not making the top four and going into match play, but they should be happy with the way they hung in and played. It has been a very exciting spring for us, and we're looking forward to having a strong team next year with most of our players returning and a couple of outstanding freshman coming in."
The 36-hole leader, Fransson racked up five birdies over his first nine holes to reach 12-under for the tournament. The senior was steady to start his second nine with pars on the first five holes, but he closed out with three bogeys across the last four holes as individual medalist Vicente Marzilio and runner-up Khavish Varadan surged down the closing stretch. Marzilio was 3-under on his final nine and notched crucial birdies on the 16th and 17th holes. Likewise, Varadan played his final nine holes at 3-under and logged three consecutive birdies on the 15th, 16th and 17th.
Fransson continued to be the best player on the par 4s, playing them at 9-under. He was also 4-under on par-5 holes and had the second-most birdies (16) among the field. The native of Umea, Sweden makes the All-Tournament Team for the second time following a fourth-place finish as a true freshman in 2018.
Rasmus Konradsson fired a final-round 75 and finished tied for 18th at even-par 216 (71-70-75). He carded three total birdies on Wednesday and his second eagle of the event. The native of Sundsvall, Sweden was one of only two individuals with multiple eagles and was second-best on the par 4s (-6).
Jakob Henriksson shot a tournament-best 73 to tie for 36th at 221. Carter Morgan posted his first sub-par round of the event with a 71. He finished tied for 47th at 224. Filip Wetterqvist shot an 80 on Wednesday for a three-round total of 240.
As a team, the Monarchs climbed one spot on Wednesday, finishing sixth at 4-over 868 (294-285-289).
North Texas' Marzilio claimed medalist honors with an 11-under score of 205. He edged out UAB's Varadan by one stroke. Both individuals shot a 67 on Wednesday. The Middle Tennessee duo of Tanner Owens and Kevin Jegers rounded out the top-five and the All-Tournament Team.
The Blue Raiders finished the three rounds of stroke play at 14-under 850, the best score among the 13-team field. North Texas (852, -12), No. 38 UAB (853, -11) and No. 33 Charlotte (857, -7) all advanced to match play to determine a team champion.
ODU Lineup
3. Gustav Fransson – 70-67-70—207
T18. Rasmus Konradsson – 71-70-75—216
T36. Jakob Henriksson – 74-74-73—221
T47. Carter Morgan – 79-74-71—224
62. Filip Wetterqvist – 81-79-80—240
Team Leaderboard
1. Middle Tennessee – 296-275-279—850
2. North Texas – 288-286-278—852
3. No. 38 UAB – 294-281-278—853
4. No. 33 Charlotte – 286-287-284—857
5. No. 44 UTSA – 283-290-287—860
6. Old Dominion – 294-285-289—868
T7. Florida Atlantic – 309-288-274—871
T7. Southern Miss – 290-287-294—871
9. Louisiana Tech – 289-290-295—874
T10. UTEP – 295-297-283—875
T10. Rice – 294-292-289—875
12. Western Kentucky – 300-296-290—886
13. Marshall – 308-295-285—888
Individual Top-10
1. Vicente Marzilio (North Texas) – 70-68-67—205
2. Khavish Varadan (UAB) – 68-71-67—206
3. Gustav Fransson (ODU) – 70-67-70—207
4. Tanner Owens (Middle Tennessee) – 70-69-70—209
5. Kevin Jegers (Middle Tennessee) – 76-65-69—210
T6. Nick Robillard (UAB) – 75-69-68—212
T6. Rodrigo Martin Miranda (Rice) – 71-69-72—212
T6. Carson Ownbey (Charlotte) – 71-68-73—212
T9. Lenny Bergsson (North Texas) – 73-70-70—213
T9. Ben Woodruff (Charlotte) – 70-72-71—213
T9. Matt Lorenz (Southern Miss) – 69-72-72--213