Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech’s Niilo Maki-Petaja made a 35-foot birdie putt on the final hole to earn the individual title of the Aggie Invitational on Sunday afternoon at Traditions Golf Club.
“This course was hard,” said head coach Matt Terry. “Two guys shot +1, and that won it. And there were some really good players here. He has been playing extremely hard. He put himself in the mix and responded well. I told him on 18 he needed a birdie to tie. He did not hit a very good wedge shot, but he canned that putt for birdie, a pressure putt.”
Maki-Petaja, along with teammate Lake Juban, were tied for second on the player leaderboard going into the third and final round. Just one shot back to start the day, the freshman was unable to hit a single green on the front nine which resulted in 41 with five bogeys.
That all changed when Maki-Petaja made the turn, sinking a birdie on the Par 5 No. 10. The birdie was quickly erased though with a bogey on No. 11.
He was calm and collected though down the stretch. Two-to-three shots back of the lead for the majority of the day, he made birdie on No. 14 and then followed that up with an eagle on the Par 5 No. 15 to tie for the lead.
Despite making pars on No. 16 and No. 17, competitor Jamie Montojo of Texas A&M sank back-to-back birdies on the last two holes to take a one-shot lead over Maki Petaja. The native of Finland needed a birdie to tie him. And he did, draining a birdie putt to be co-individual champion of the event.
“The day started off really slow,” said Maki-Petaja. “I hit good tee balls but my approach shots were just not there. I stayed patient, one shot at a time. Eventually, I gave myself opportunities and it all lined up for me on the last five holes. I knew pretty much the entire day where I was at, especially after the eagle on 15.
“I thought I had a one-shot lead going into the final hole, but the guy in front of me went birdie-birdie to finish. We picked out a spot and I tried to hit it there. Did not hit it anywhere close to that spot. I wanted to give the best roll as I could to make the putt and it went in.”
Maki-Petaja ended up shooting a 32 on the back nine to finish the day with a 73 (+1) and 217 (70-74-73) for the tournament. Juban was atop the leaderboard for much of the front nine, but a double bogey on No. 9 swayed his momentum. The senior still registered a top-20 finish, tying for 12th with a 76-68-78=222 (+6).
It was a bittersweet day for LA Tech though. After registering one of their best rounds of the season, the Bulldogs struggled in round three shooting 312 (+24) to drop five spots and finish tied with Memphis for eighth at 910 (+46).
“It was a tough day for us,” said Terry. “As a team, we did not play well. It was tough to swallow especially with how well we played in round two. None of the guys got off to good starts except for Lake. Niilo eventually found a way to flip the switch on the back. It was a very impressive finish for him. It was good to be in the final group and hopefully we can learn from this. It was a relentless test of golf this entire event.”
Will Patrick shot 80 (+8) and Hunter Battles shot 81 (+9) as the other two scores used for LA Tech.
Baylor was atop the team leaderboard after round one and two and finished that way to win the Aggie Invitational after shooting 878 (+14). Host Texas A&M finished second, carding 884 (+20).
