St. Simons Island, Ga. – Twenty-one rounds into his Catamount career, Western Carolina redshirt sophomore striker Tyler Jones has earned complementary monikers "Mr. Where Did He Come From" and "the Closer," as he has rallied late for a pair of individual medalist honors and four combined podium finishes for the Purple & Gold.
 
So, it came as no surprise on Saturday, then, that Jones was in the middle of things as medalist and team championship honors were being doled out at the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort with the conclusion of The Peoples Championship.
 
Amidst a three-way tie for first entering the tournament's 54th hole, Jones went for it on the par-4, 403-yard 18th, but a costly triple bogey dropped him to third and relegated the Catamounts to second in the team standings as the event host.
 
Paced by medalist Cayse Morgan with an 11-under par 202, Xavier claimed the team championship by two strokes over WCU, as the Musketeers shot 14-under 838 to edge the Catamounts at 840, 12-under par.
 
Jones, who finished the tournament at 8-under par 205, collected his fourth top-three finish of the season. He guided the Catamounts to their sixth top-five team finish and the fourth podium showing to date. Junior Jace Butcher, who paced WCU for much of the event, clocked a top 10 finish with a seventh-place tie.
 
Among the final pairings on Saturday, Jones carded seven of his team-best 17 birdies in the third round, but bookended his day with a bogey on the first and a triple-bogey on the 18th. He countered a first-hole bogey with five birdies to make the turn for home at 4-under par. Two additional birdies on holes No. 12 and 13 moved him into contention for the win, but he carded a seven on the par-4 18th.
 
Butcher posted his second top 10 finish of the season, coming home tied for seventh with a three-day score of 5-under par 208. He battled through Saturday's final round, overcoming a trio of bogeys on the front nine to card four birdies on the back, moving back to even-par with his birdie on the par-5, 578-yard 16th. Butcher finished with 16 birdies for the event.
 
All told, Butcher and Jones ranked among the tournament leaders in par-5 scoring, shooting 8-under (4.33) and 7-under (4.42), respectively.
 
Freshman Connor Williams posted his best career finish in a tie for 25th with a career—low three-round score of 214, matching his best career round twice with even-par 71 in the first and third. Williams had a mostly quiet third round, countering three bogeys with a trio of birdies. He was poised for a 1-under round before a bogey on the 18th.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five was junior Andrew Korytoski in a tie for 55th with a final score of 6-over par 219, and senior Ivan Ninkovic in a tie for 71st at 9-over par 222. Korytoski had three birdies on Saturday as part of his seven for the event, while Ninkovic had eight birdies.
 
WCU led the tournament field in par-5 scoring at 20-under par (4.67) and was tied for the tournament lead with 59 birdies, matched by Samford.
 
Western Carolina's five individuals competing as the "B" team climbed to 19th overall in the final standings. Redshirt senior Josh Lendach, junior Michael Bevins, and freshman Charlie Coe each finished tied for 61st overall with matching scores of 7-over par 220. Lendach matched his best round of the event at 1-over par 72, while Bevins duplicated his second-round 73 on Saturday. Coe matched his best career round by shooting even-par 71 over the final 18 holes.
 
Rounding out the order was junior Dalton Payne in a tie for 102nd, carding his tournament-low round of 1-over par 72, with freshman Hayden Magnussen coming home 119th overall, posting his best collegiate round on Friday with a 75.
 
Behind Xavier (838) and Western Carolina (840), Southern Conference foe Samford was third at 10-under par 842, Winthrop (850) was fourth, and Villanova and Drexel were tied for fifth with matching even-par scores of 852. WCU's "B" squad came home 19th overall with a three-day score of 886.
 
Cayse Morgan of Xavier edged Samford's Gavin Isbell by a stroke, 202-to-203, with WCU's Jones in third, three strokes off the pace at 205. Davidson's Nate Faulkner, Haden Maxwell of Tennessee Tech, and Arjun Singh Bhatia from Long Island rounded out the top of the leaderboard in a three-way tie for fourth at 6-under par 207.
 
Western Carolina is back in action in short order, leaving coastal Georgia for the Piedmont for the one-day, 36-hole Southern Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Georgia at the Athens Country Club in Athens, Ga. WCU is among 17 teams scheduled to compete in the event. Live scoring through the Clippd app is available online through a link a CatamountSports.com.
 
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).
 
2 – Western Carolina – 277 – 282 – 281 = 840 (-9)
3 – Tyler Jones (1) – 68-69-68 = 205 (-8)
T7 – Jace Butcher (3) – 68-69-71 = 208 (-5)
T25 – Connor Williams (5) – 71-72-71 = 214 (+1)
T55 – Andrew Korytoski (4) – 76-72-71 = 219 (+6)
T71 – Ivan Ninkovic (2) – 70-78-74 = 222 (+9)
 
19 – Western Carolina 'B' – 299 – 299 = 598 (+30)
T61 – Josh Lendach (2) – 72-76-72 = 220 (+7)
T61 – Michael Bevins (3) – 74-73-73 = 220 (+7)
T61 – Charlie Coe (4) – 74-75-71 = 220 (+7)
T102 – Dalton Payne (1) – 79-78-72 = 229 (+16)
119 – Hayden Magnussen (5) – 82-75-83 = 240 (+27)