<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2ZJV1H_0vj9trLf00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2ZJV1H_0vj9trLf00" width="1609" height="1287" ><figcaption>Preston Stout (pictured) and Eric Lee tied for 22nd in the&nbsp;Fighting Illini Invitational, as the Cowboys finished third overall. Courtesy OSU Cowboy Golf</figcaption></figure>Oklahoma State tied for third with North Carolina in the Fighting Illini Invitational at the Olympia Fields (Illinois) Country Club, as the Cowboys finished 1-under.Head coach Alan Bratton said this is the second tournament in a row where his team has beaten a good golf program like Texas.“You go two tournaments in a row where not very many teams are beating you for the bulk of the tournament,” Bratton said. “We tightened up some of the things that we let get away a little bit at Sahalee in the final round and had a slow start this week, but closed well. So I'm excited about what we've got going forward, and we've got some depth at home that can continue to push the guys that are in the lineup.”Sophomore Ethan Fang remained solid, finishing in fifth place with a score of 5-under. He said getting birdies early in the rounds built momentum throughout the day.“It definitely helps those birdies to drop early, for sure, helps you get your confidence up,” Fang said. “Also knowing that when you're hitting it, good putts start dropping, you can have a good round out there.”Sophomores Eric Lee and Preston Stout tied for 22nd with a score of 2-over. Lee struggled out of the gate with a 76 in round one but shot 68 twice to finish inside the top 25.“I know I'm not just playing for myself, but I'm also playing for the school,” Lee said. “So there's a lot more factors that go into it, so I try to keep that in mind and just try to keep pushing and score as best as I can.”Stout went bogey free on round two, putting up a 69. He said it is a big confidence boost to go bogey-free on a course as tough as Olympia Fields.“It was just a pretty stress-free round, with a lot of two-putt pars, which kind of got frustrating, but it was definitely confidence-building,” Stout said. “Especially going into that final round right after. Knowing how well I was hitting it, I was ready to get back on the course and try to put up a low number.”Freshman Filip Fahlberg-Johnsson rounded out the tournament 4-over but finished strong with a final-round score of 69. Junior John Wild struggled in the tournament, finishing 10-over.The team has two weeks off before the Big 12 Conference Match Play Tournament at Houston Oaks on Oct. 7-9. Bratton said the team is trending in the right direction but needs to clean up on the short game before match play.“We had way too many three putts this week from a couple of our young guys,” Bratton said. “And to win matches, you got to make putts, so we'll be focusing on our speed and building confidence on the greens as we lead into the Big 12 match play."</div></body>

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Cowboy golf finishes third in the Fighting Illini Invitational

Oklahoma State tied for third with North Carolina in the Fighting Illini Invitational at the Olympia Fields (Illinois) Country Club, as the Cowboys finished 1-under. Head coach Alan Bratton said this is the second tournament in a row where his team has beaten a good golf program like Texas. “You...