ST. SIMON'S ISLAND, Ga. – In a streak of great play, Jacksonville State's Erik Jansson put together one of the best performances in his career.
 
The Gamecocks' No. 1 player earned his first collegiate win on Saturday, when he capped an impressive showing in the Sea Palms Invitational with his third score in the 60's in three days. He shot a final-round 68 to follow back-to-back rounds of 66 that opened the tournament. 
 
The Vasteras, Sweden, native finished the 54-hole event on the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort with a 200, the third-lowest 54-hole score in Jax State history and 13 shots under par. He tied with Wright State's Mikkel Mathiesen atop the 120-player leaderboard.
 
"We have played Sea Palms before and we knew that it was scorable," Jansson said. "It's a birdie fest if you can keep the ball in play from off the tee, and I managed to do that really well this week and hit a lot of fairways. The putter was a little cold in my final round and I didn't make the putts that I had to make on the front nine, but I managed to birdie 16 and 18 to force it to a play-off where I lost after Mikkel made a good putt for birdie."
 
The win continues a hot start to the spring season for Jansson, who started the second portion of the season with an eighth-place finish at UNF's The Hayt and a seventh-place finish at the Gulf Coast Collegiate. In The Sea Palms Invitational, he made 18 birdies and played the course's par-4 and par-5 holes at a combined 14-under.
 
"I feel like my game has been trending in a good direction this semester and I contribute a lot of my success to the great team I have around me," Jansson added. "Coach Brice and Patricio are doing a great job out there helping us players on the course. We are leaving Sea Palms on a positive note, we are, and will always be competitive group of guys. I'm confident that we will keep improving and be a force to recon with going forward."
 
Jansson was one of two Gamecocks under par and in the top 10, with sophomore Santiago Bailleres also carding three rounds under par. The Carrientes, Argentina, native also continued his hot play of late, following an eighth-place finish at the Gulf Coast Collegiate last week with another eighth-place on Saturday.
 
"I can't say enough what a treat it is to coach a player like Erik," head coach Michael Brice said. "He treats every shot in practice like a tournament and it pays off. He is a constant professional on and off the course. Santi has some of the best talent I have seen and he will be a force to be reckoned with as he keeps learning."
 
Bailleres opened the Sea Palms Invitational with a 68 on Thursday and followed that with a Friday 67. He fired a final-round 70 to cap his 205 that left him 8-under for the tournament. He tied for the tournament lead with two eagles, both in Friday's second round and one coming on his first hole of the day. He started on the par-4 10^th hole and dropped his approach straight into the hole from 133 yards out to pencil in a two.
 
The Gamecocks finished fifth as a team in the 20-team event, shooting a 9-under 843, just five shots behind UCF in fourth place. Davidson won the tournament with a 43-under 809. 
 
Senior Ross Napier tied for 48^th after shooting a 54-hole 217 (68-75-74) and redshirt sophomore Gabriel Restrepo shot a 223 (73-76-74) to tie for 78^th. Junior Devin Speight tied for 94^th after finishing a 227 (77-74-76) on Saturday.
 
"It is also a treat to watch our players buy into the course management strategies (assistant coach Patricio Freundt-Thurne) and I have been working on with them over the last month," Brice added. "We are going to keep getting better and I am excited about the future of this program!"
 
The Gamecocks will take a couple of weeks to prepare for their next event, the Golfweek Any Given Tuesday tournament in Pawley's Island, S.C., from March 27-29. They will play 54 holes on the TrueBlue Golf Course.