Fillmore Advances to NCAA Championships

Day 1 Recap

MILTON, Ga. -- BYU men’s golfer Robbie Fillmore has advanced to the NCAA Championships after finishing third at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Saturday. The ninth-seeded Cougars as a team came one stroke away from reaching the Championships but ultimately fell short of the fifth-place finish they needed.

“It was a disappointing day,” said BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank. “We played well at times, but we just couldn’t finish it off and fell short. It was a bitter way to finish the year, but I’m really proud of the guys for the effort they made. I’m also excited for Robbie. He played great this week and deserves to advance.”

As the top individual from a non-qualifying team, Fillmore’s third-place finish was enough to earn him the Championship bid, the first of his career after three Regionals appearances. The invite came down to the wire as the Cougar senior beat Mississippi’s Jonathan Randolph on the fifth hole of a sudden-death playoff to advance. Fillmore was +2 on the day and -1 overall for the tournament, tying with four others to force the playoff holes.

BYU finished sixth at +24 overall, a single shot behind both Georgia Southern and No. 9 Arizona State. No. 4 Oklahoma State (+1), No. 20 Clemson (+3) and No. 14 Georgia Tech (+5) also finished in the top five to advance.

The Cougars’ other senior, Brady Johnson, finished his BYU career tying for 41st at the Regional. He went +6 on Saturday and +9 overall. Junior Esteban Calisto and freshman Zac Blair each tied for 45th at +10 while sophomore Jordan Rodgers finished tied for 65th at +15.

The NCAA Championships will be held June 1-6 at the Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.