SIU senior golfer Brandon Cauldwell became the ninth Saluki to win a regular season tournament at the Purdue Midwest Shootout Sunday.

Cauldwell shot a pair of 69-stroke scores in the 36-hole tourney for a score of 138. The Salukis placed fourth in the nine-team field.

Coach Leroy Newton said Cauldwell’s performance was a high point for an otherwise underwhelming day on the links for the Salukis.

“As a team, we didn’t really play our best,” Newton said. “Brandon played excellent, but we wouldn’t take a back seat to anyone and we didn’t do as well as we could have.”

Cauldwell credited his short game to help with his victory.

“I did pretty good. I’ve been hitting the ball pretty well lately,” he said. “My putts were rolling and I was feeling comfortable.”

Senior Jeff Miller also had a good day on the course for SIU as he finished 14th individually at 152 with scores of 80 and 72.

“As far as consistency, the lack thereof on the front nine really hurt me,” Miller said. “I struggled early, but then I was able to get it together.”

Two-time all-conference senior Jake Erickson struggled Sunday and finished 39th with a score of 162. Erickson said he had issues getting into a groove on the course, but he credited the ability of Miller and Cauldwell to pick up the slack as a testament to the team’s capability as a whole.

“I played horrible today,” Erickson said. “Brandon played phenomenal. We couldn’t ask of anything more from him. We obviously could be better, but it’s nice to have (Miller and Cauldwell) to pick us up.”

Cauldwell’s pair of 69s added to his total of five sub-70 scores in his career, which ties him with Erickson at fifth on the Salukis’ all-time list.

SIU will compete Saturday and Sunday in the DA Weibring Intercollegiate tournament held at Illinois State University.