Clemson, SC — Senior Thomas Higgins had the best tournament finish of his career and junior Oscar Bredkjaer had a final round 65 to lead Clemson to the team championship of the Mountaineer Invitational @ Pete Dye in Bridgeport, W.V. It was the second tournament win of the academic year for Jordan Byrd’s Tigers, who won the Marquette Invitational at Erin Hill in Wisconsin in October.
Clemson finished first with a score of 20-under-par 844, while No. 8 Texas Tech was second at 848. Host school West Virginia also finished at 16-under par.
Clemson and the Red Raiders were tied at 19-under par entering the final three holes. But the Tigers played the last three holes at one-under-par and Texas Tech played the same holes at three-over, giving the Tigers the four-shot victory.
The victory gave Clemson an 82-50-3 head-to-head record against it’s opposition this year. With just the 16-team ACC Tournament remaining prior to NCAA bid day, Clemson has clinched a winning record for the year, the main prerequisite to receive an NCAA regional bid.
This championship was achieved against a 19-team field, the largest field Clemson has overcome to win a tournament since the Tigers were first at the 21-team Furman Invitational in March of 2017. It was the most impressive tournament victory since the Tigers won the NCAA Regional in Chapel Hill, N.C. in 2024.
Clemson had to defeat three top 10 teams to win the tournament. In gaining the title Clemson beat eighth-ranked Texas Tech by four shots, beat sixth-ranked Oklahoma State by 11 strokes, and beat fifth-ranked Arkansas by 14 shots.
Clemson made an incredible improvement over the course of the tournament. The Tigers shot six over par 294 in the first round and stood in 10th place. But Clemson played the last two rounds at a combined 26-under-par to leap over nine teams, including the aforementioned top 10 teams from Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech.
Higgins, who had a six-under-par 66 in the second round on Monday, the 100th round of his Clemson career, finished with a 54-hole total of 206, 10-under-par. He finished just one shot behind Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout, the number-three-ranked golfer in the nation.
Higgins' best finish among his 34 previous tournaments as a Tiger was a fourth place at Briar’s Creek Invitational in 2024. The native of Ireland had 15 birdies and an eagle among its 54 holes. He had a 3.73 stroke average for the tournament on par four holes, a big reason Clemson played the par four holes at 12-under-par, 10 shots better than the second best team.
Bredkjaer, Clemson’s leader in stroke average entering the tournament, was Clemson’s non-counter in each of the first two rounds. But the transfer from the University of San Francisco, played his first 12 holes on Tuesday at eight-under-par. His front nine 31 set the tone of the day for the Tigers. His front nine included an eagle on the par four sixth hole. The native of Denmark finished with a 217 total for 54 holes, 21st in the field of 104 players.
Clemson had two other players score one under par 71 on Tuesday. Lucas Augustsson finished with a 211 total for his 54 holes, field for fifth in the final standings. He had rounds of 73-67-71 in registering his second straight top five finish, and fourth top seven finish of the year. The native of Sweden had 15 birdies for the tournament. His 4.5 stroke average on par five holes led the Tigers for the tournament.
Rich Wills also had a one-under-par 71 in the final round and he finished with a 219 score for the tournament, good enough for a 26th-place finish. Fellow sophomore Colin Salema had a final round 76, but also finished 26th for the tournament with a 219 total. His second round 68 tied his career best.
Freshman Sam Duran played the tournament as an individual. His final round 73 included a Clemson record tying two eagles. It was his second best round of the year. His 226 score for the tournament was 65th.
Freshman Tip Price payed in the Bridgeport Individual tournament on Monday and Tuesday and finished with a 232 score. He finished 20th in that event.