Sunday, September 12, 2004

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (September 12, 2004) - Tennessee's Philip Pettitt may be a freshman, but he certainly looked like a savvy veteran in the final round of his first collegiate event Sunday at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at The Ridges.

Pettitt posted a final round 67 and finished at 8-under-par (69-72-67=208), capturing the individual championship while also powering the Volunteers to their first team title at the event. Pettitt ended his round on No. 18 with an exciting 18-foot birdie putt that put an explanation point on the Tennessee triumph.

"I knew the tournament was close, and once I heard the cheer when it went in, I knew the putt was probably a little more important than I thought," said Pettitt. "I was in play all weekend with my driver and I was putting the ball well the whole tournament. That was the difference for me."

Pettitt held off Oklahoma's Anthony Kim by two strokes for the victory, while the Volunteers bested TCU by three strokes for the team title. Kim, who is a sophomore season, won the Phil Mickelson award last season, which goes to the top freshman in the country. Pettitt said winning that award is his goal this year.

"It's still early and there's a lot of season left, but that is one of my goals," Pettitt said. "My summer was not the greatest, but this certainly was nice."

East Tennessee State, the host team, entered the tournament without two of its best players - sophomore Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) and freshman Cian McNamara (Limerick, Ireland), who were playing internationally back in Scotland - and finished the tournament tied for 13th. Despite that placing, ETSU head coach Fred Warren was encouraged by his team's play, especially the final round.

"I think we finished on a high note," Warren said. "I saw some good things from our team, especially from some guys who got to play this weekend since Rhys and Cian were out. We have a better team this year and I think we're going to be much more competitive. Hosting this event always helps us in the long run."

For ETSU, senior Cennydd Mills (Cardiff, Wales) led the way by finishing tied for 10th at even-par, while freshman Gareth Shaw (Lisburn, Northern Ireland) finished tied for 25th at 3-over.

Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate At The Ridges Golf and Country Club
Sept. 11-12, 2004
Sunday

Team Results
1.	Tennessee	282-292-280=854	-10
2.	TCU	286-288-283=857	-7
3.	Clemson	286-288-287=861	-3
4.	Oklahoma	290-282-298=870	+6
5.	Wake Forest	293-285-293=871	+7
6.	LSU	298-282-293=873	+9
T7.	South Carolina	301-287-291=879	+15
T7.	Alabama	288-298-293=879	+15
9.	Virginia	290-293-297=880	+16
T10.	North Carolina	295-294-294=883	+19
T10.	Duke	294-296-293=883	+19
12.	Kansas	301-290-293=884	+20
T13.	ETSU	297-296-292=885	+21
T13.	Virginia Tech	291-299-295=885	+21
15.	Florida State	304-286-301=891	+27
Team Results
1.	Philip Pettitt, Tennessee	69-72-67=208	-8
2.	Anthony Kim, Oklahoma	68-68-74=210	-6
T3.	Brian Duncan, Clemson	68-69-74=211	-5
T3.	Webb Simpson, W.Forest	68-70-73=211	-5
5.	Nathan Smith,	70-74-68=212	-4
ETSU Results
T10.	Cennydd Mills	72-71-73=216	E
T25.	Gareth Shaw	75-70-74=219	+3
T59.	Jeremy Hobson	78-78-70=226	+10
T59.	Stephen Arnold	72-78-76=226	+10
T68.	Andrew Paduch	78-77-75=230	+14