Men’s golf wins AAC for fourth consecutive season

USF has won the AAC every year since its inception. BEN SOLOMON/THE AMERICAN

For the fourth consecutive season, USF men’s golf is AAC champions.

USF’s Claudio Correa won the AAC Tournament as an individual Tuesday after posting a three-shot victory at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club's Copperhead Course, while the Bulls as a team won the tournament by 20 strokes, shooting 10-under par.

"We were leading after 11 consecutive rounds, but to lead after the 12th one is the most important,” USF coach Steve Bradley said. “We talked going into the week about four straight and what it means. I think I tried to downplay it a little bit, but for Claudio to win four of these on four teams and now to collect that individual crown is pretty cool.”

Finishing second place in the tournament was SMU, which shot 10-over par.

Correa, a senior, entered Tuesday with a two-stroke lead and finished the tournament three strokes ahead of second place — his teammate Cristian DiMarco. USF has had a player capture the individual title at The American Championship in three of the past four years, with Aksel Olsen (2016) and Ryan Fricker (2015) being the others.

The tournament win was USF’s fifth of the season, tying a program high.

"I told a couple of the guys heading into the Old Waverly event, I told them five was the number and it would be great to get to seven,” Correa said. “Right now it would still be great to get to seven. That means a regional win and an NCAA win.”

The Bulls will find out their regional fate on Wednesday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. during the NCAA Selection Show. The show will be aired on the Golf Channel.

“What we've done here even a couple of years before I got here, the way this program was trending and certainly where we are now, they know their place will be in the history books,” Correa said. “They're going to be able to look back on this in many years, in 20-30 years when they're old like me and be proud of what they accomplished and share that with their kids."