May 1, 2013
Pac-12 Men's Golf Championships Final Round Results
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - By two strokes Stanford edged Arizona State to finish fourth at 54-over-par 1454 on Wednesday at the men’s golf Pac-12 Championships at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Throughout the tournament, the top three teams on the leaderboard remained the same. After a 12-under-par opening round, top-ranked (Golfweek) California took the lead and the title, notching a six-over 1406 (338-357-361-350). No. 5 UCLA (346-358-354-357) took second at 1415 and No. 7 Washington (349-360-369-354) finished third.
The No. 8 Cardinal (366-361-365-362) started and finished in fourth. Heading into the final round today, however, Arizona State (368-362-354-372) had an eight-stroke lead but Stanford came back and fired 12 over while the Sun Devils shot 22 over to finish in fifth.
“We were happy with today’s round,” said The Knowles Family Director of Golf Conrad Ray. “We made a little comeback and secured fourth in the team competition. Obviously the Pac-12 is stacked in terms of talent and rankings, so considering where we started today fourth isn’t all bad but we wanted to win!”
Cameron Wilson (71-70-69-73) finished in ninth at 283. The senior managed to lead the Cardinal in the second and third rounds, completing a solid top-10 performance.
“I was impressed with Cameron’s play this week and finishing ninth overall on a very strong field,” Ray said. “He played solid and was in control of his game. I think he would’ve felt that if a few more putts would have dropped he would have been right there in contention.”
First-round leader Patrick Rodgers (68-72-73-74) tied for 11th with 287. Through the front nine, the sophomore was even after pairing a bogey on the fourth with a birdie on the sixth. But in the back nine Rodgers let four shots go.
“Patrick had a bad break with a double bogey on the last hole but he had a very nice finish,” Ray continued. “He hit a rake near the bunker going off the 18th hole and the ball careened off the green. He had a really tough chip and ended up making a double bogey. Minus a couple of those shots and he played decently well today.”
Steve Kearney, who led Stanford today and matched the tournament fourth round low, shot a 68 after firing four birdies and two bogeys. The senior (79-71-74-68) tied for 24th overall.
“I putted really well today,” Kearney said. “The greens were perfect and I was rolling it really well. On top of that, I only missed two fairways which really helped.”
“This round gave me a lot of confidence. If I can get my mid iron game working well again I should continue to play great.”
Two shots behind Kearney was senior Andrew Yun (72-76-75-71) who tied for 29th at 294. Yun, who won the Pac-12 Championships last year, fired his best round of the tournament today, going one over after two bogeys and a birdie. He pared the rest of the holes in the back nine.
Freshman David Boote (76-72-76-76) tied for 45th at 300, while junior Shane Lebow (81-76-74-82) tied for 66th with 313.
The NCAA will announce the regional fields on May 6 and the NCAA Regionals will be held on May 16-18.
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