Columbia News

Junior Virgilio Paz led the University of Missouri men's golf team at the Colleton River Challenge, finishing eighth overall and recording his third collegiate top-10 result. Paz completed the tournament at +2 with rounds of 70, 72, and 76, and made nine birdies over 54 holes. He has now led Mizzou in scoring in five out of seven events during the current season.

"I played really solid this week, especially on such a challenging course," Paz said. "I struck the ball well and did a great job staying patient, even though my final round wasn't my best. I'm happy with the top-10 finish and this motivates me to keep working hard and improving for what's ahead."

Paz previously finished in the top-10 at both the Golfweek "Put Me In Coach" Invitational earlier this season and at last year's Chicago Highlands Invitational.

"It was great playing by Virgilio," Missouri head coach Glen Millican said. "We had some good golf by a couple of other guys at times on a really good test of a course but a tied for eighth-place by Virgilio is a great finish and one that he can build on."

Freshman Trent Mierl posted the team's lowest score of the day with a 74 after making consecutive birdies on holes 14 and 15. Mierl moved up six places to finish 49th overall at +12 for the tournament.

Mattias Varjun was second among Missouri players, finishing 35th at +9. Veikka Viskari and Brock Snyder also contributed to the team's effort.

The Tigers finished 11th out of 16 teams with a total score of +32. Michigan State won the event, followed by Kansas State and Chattanooga.

Missouri will compete next at The General Hacker Invitational in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, beginning March 16.