Dru Love Claims Co-Medalist Honors, Tide Finishes in Third at Puerto Rico Classic

Sophomore Dru Love recorded his second consecutive round of 69 on Tuesday and earned co-medalist honors to lead the Alabama men's golf team at the 2015 Puerto Rico Classic. As a team, the 11^th-ranked Crimson Tide finished in third overall with a team score of 1-over par 865 (285-297-284) on the 6,945-yard, par-72 River Course at the Rio Mar Country Club.

"I'm very proud of how we responded today. Especially, after yesterday, we didn't play very well," head coach Jay Seawell said. "I thought our guys did a really good job of staying positive last night and talking about it a little bit. We were just fired up to win today. That was a nice building block for hopefully the rest of this year."

Love, who shared medalist honors with Virginia Tech's Scott Vincent, finished the three-day, 54-hole event with a score of 7-under par 209 (71-69-69). It is the first time in his career that Love has recorded back-to-back sub-70 rounds, while his total of 209 marked the second-lowest 54-hole score of his career (shot a 207 last fall at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate). Love's previous best finish was a fifth-place result at the 2014 Jerry Pate, hosted by Alabama at the Old Overton Golf Course on Oct. 6-7.

Love earned his first collegiate tournament victory on the same day that his father, Davis Love III, was named the United States Ryder Cup captain

"I am really proud of Drew," Seawell said. "He knew he had a chance to win most of that round. He was playing steady, but there was no leaderboard, but he knew. How he responded to that pressure was great as a coach to watch. I know it's very satisfying to win, but it should give him the confidence to know what he can do on a tournament-to-tournament basis. Just really proud of him. He's worked hard and that's been great. For him to do this on the same day his dad was named Ryder Cup captain was a pretty cool thing."

Sophomore Robby Shelton, last year's medalist winner at the event, also had a strong performance. The Wilmer, Ala., native finished the tournament at 5-under 211 (69-71-71) which tied for fourth overall. It was his 12^th top-five finish in 17 career tournaments played and his fourth top-five result in five tournaments during the 2014-15 season.

Junior Tom Lovelady had a strong finish, as he recorded a final round score of 4-under par 68 on Tuesday - the Tide's lowest 18-hole score at the event this week. As a result, Lovelady vaulted to 19^th overall for the tournament, finishing with a three-day total of 1-over par 219 (70-78-68). Sophomore William Sellers (75-80-75), playing in his first collegiate tournament, and sophomore Robby Prater (77-78-75) both tied for 58^th overall with a 230 to round out the Tide golfers.

The Tide's third-place finish was the third top-three result in its six tournaments during the 2014-15 season. Georgia (852), which entered the tournament ranked 40^th in the nation, led throughout the event and cruised to a seven stroke victory over No. 6 Georgia Tech (859). Oklahoma, ranked 21^st nationally, tied Alabama for third, while tournament host Purdue (867) rounded out the top five.

In all, nine of the 15 teams in this year's Puerto Rico Classic were ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation.

Alabama will waste no time as it prepares for its second tournament of the spring season. The Tide will compete at the John Hayt Intercollegiate, which will be held on Friday-Sunday, Feb. 28-March 1 in Jacksonville, Fla.