The No. 19 Arkansas Razorbacks, led by sophomores William Buhl and Mason Overstreet, fired a 9 under on Tuesday but could not catch No. 7 Kentucky in the final round of the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Kentucky carded an 11 under to finish the 54-hole tournament at 32 under and beat the Razorbacks by six strokes at Coldstream Country Club. Arkansas placed second at 26 under, nine strokes ahead of SEC foe Mississippi State, 10 strokes ahead of Middle Tennessee State and 12 strokes better than No. 17 Illinois.
Rounding out the top 10 was Ohio State (-13), Louisville (-12), Akron (+2), host Cincinnati (+2) and Michigan State (+5).
Arkansas posted its best team score since firing a 28 under at the NCAA Columbia (Mo.) Regional in 2014. Buhl shot a 5-under 66 on Tuesday to lead the Razorbacks and tie for 11th place. Overstreet’s 3-under 68 left him in a tie for sixth. Arkansas’ top performer in the tournament was senior Alvaro Ortiz, who shot 1-under 70 in the final round and finished alone in fifth after back-to-back 67s in the opening two rounds on Monday. Ortiz has three consecutive top 10 finishes.
Kentucky’s Tyler McDaniel won medalist honors with a 12 under, one stroke better than Mississippi State’s Tanapat Pichaikool.
The Razorbacks, coached by Brad McMakin, were aiming for back-to-back tournament titles after winning the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 11. Arkansas resumes its fall slate on Oct. 9 at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate in Vestavia Hills, Ala.