Lobos Finish Sixth at Mirabel Maui Jim Intercollegiate

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. –– The New Mexico men’s golf team concluded play at the Mirabel Maui Jim Intercollegiate with a strong final round at Mirabel Golf Club. The Lobos shot 13-under on Sunday, the second-lowest round of the day, to move up the leaderboard for a T-6th finish t 31-under.

Auburn capped a wire-to-wire victory, finishing at 56-under. Fresno State (45-under), San Diego State (43-under), Ohio State (37-under) and SMU (32-under) rounded out the top five. UNM and Oregon tied for sixth at 31-under in the 15-team field.

Matthew Watkins capped a career-best finish tournament, finishing sixth at 14-under for his third career top-10. He shot 199 over the 54 holes to be the seventh Lobo in history to finish under 200, the first since Jon Sauer shot 199 at the 2007 High Country Shootout. Watkins shot a final round 65, matching his lowest round as a collegian.

Carson Herron also had a career-best performance, finishing T-11th at 11-under, his lowest score as a collegian. On Sunday, he matched his low round as a Lobo with a final round 66.

Alvaro Portillo shot a 2-under 69 for the second straight day, his first two career collegiate rounds in the 60s to finish T-27th at 4-under. Albert Boneta had an even par 71 on Sunday, while Bastien Amat rounded out the lineup with a final round 72.

“Today the team battled back after a slow start on the opening nine holes and showed a ton of fight, shooting 8-under on the back nine to shoot the second-lowest round of the day,” said head coach Jake Harrington. “Watkins and Carson were incredible this week and helped the team make a charge in the middle of the round today by combining for 11-under over a six-hole stretch. I couldn’t be more proud of those two.”

The Lobos return to action Sept. 18-19 with the USF Intercollegiate at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, the site of the 2020 PGA Championship.