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The NCAA News -- June 21, 1999

Georgia survives Hazeltine to win first men's golf crown

BY TY HALPIN
STAFF WRITER

CHASKA, Minnesota -- The official record will show that Georgia won the 1999 Division I Men's Golf Championships, but make no mistake about it -- Hazeltine National Golf Course was the real victor in this event.

The course, which also played host to the 1991 U.S. Open and will welcome the 2001 PGA Championship, dominated the field. Gusty winds and periods of rain in the second and third rounds made playing conditions even more treacherous. And though the weather eased for the final round, which would have made for favorable scoring conditions, many of the pins were cut in challenging places, which led to the course's continued unforgiving nature.

"This course was a true test," said Northwestern's Luke Donald, who took medalist honors with a score of 284, just four under par. "What you had to realize is that par is a very good score. Sometimes bogey was good. I just tried to avoid the big numbers and took what the course gave me."

Donald was one of only three players under par. Georgia's Ryuji Imada and Washington's Troy Kelly finished tied for second at 287.

Imada, who turned in the round of the tournament on the final day, led Georgia to its first men's golf championship. Starting on the front side, Imada birdied Nos. 2, 4, and 6 before coming to the par-5 seventh hole. After a solid drive and well-placed second shot, Imada found himself lining up a 45-foot putt for eagle. With a large gallery following the group -- Donald was in the threesome -- there was the opportunity for nerves to enter into play.

"I just hit it wanting to get it close," Imada said.

It was more than close. The putt, which broke twice, sauntered up to the cup before slipping inside the left edge. The crowd exploded with enthusiasm.

Imada's 31 on the front side allowed him to pull even with Donald despite being seven shots behind at the start of the day.

But the team title, which was still in doubt, was of more concern to Imada.

"I was glad I was playing so well, but really, it was putting," he said. "I knew I needed to keep hitting fairways and greens. For our team to win, I didn't want to make any mistakes."

Imada fired a final-round 67, just one stroke shy of the course record, and made only one bogey. That slip came at No. 18, after the team championship was secure.

Georgia, with a team total of 1,180 (28 over par), bested Oklahoma State by three shots. The Bulldogs trailed the Cowboys by five shots heading into the final round.

"I'm so proud of our guys," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "I think we realized this week that we weren't going to overpower Hazeltine. We played well all week and just took what the course gave us. This is an amazing feeling."

Donald, who became the first champion from Northwestern, drew on his past to navigate Hazeltine. A native of Buckinghamshire, England, the sophomore was accustomed to windy conditions. He hit the ball low, playing Hazeltine as if it were a links course. Those who attempted traditionally American approaches -- high, floating shots -- were giving the wind too much control of their fate.

"I grew up playing in the wind, so it wasn't much of an adjustment," Donald said of days two and three, when he shot 68 and 72, respectively. "I hit the ball low and let it run up. You just had to try and survive the course, not challenge it."

TEAM RESULTS

1. Georgia, 292-305-290-293 -- 1,180; 2. Oklahoma St., 289-308-285-301 -- 1,183; 3. Northwestern, 296-299-297-296 -- 1,188; 4. Washington, 307-301-291-290 -- 1,189; 5. Arizona St., 297-307-296-292 -- 1,192; 6. UNLV, 295-298-306-296 -- 1,195; 7. Brigham Young, 293-298-302-303 -- 1,196; 8. Clemson, 293-297-303-306 -- 1,199; 8. Houston, 297-305-297-300 -- 1,199.

10. North Carolina, 294-307-298-302 -- 1,201; 11. Minnesota, 303-305-303-297 -- 1,208; 12. Florida, 297-311-298-310 -- 1,216; 13. East Tenn. St., 298-306-317-296 -- 1,217; 14. Nebraska, 301-305-304-308 -- 1,218; 15. Illinois, 303-305-304-307 -- 1,219.

Did not make cut:

16. (tie) Toledo, 308-305 -- 613; and California, 307-306 -- 613; 18. (tie) Duke, 311-303 -- 614; and Oregon, 300-314 -- 614; 20. (tie) South Carolina, 308-307 -- 615; and Arizona, 303-312 -- 615; 22. Kansas, 305-311 -- 616; 23. Colorado, 315-302 -- 617; 24. (tie) Mississippi, 299-319 -- 618; Arkansas, 298-320 -- 618; and Colorado St., 309-309 -- 618; 27. Augusta St., 307-318 -- 625; 28. Georgia Tech, 314-312 -- 626; 29. San Diego St., 308-320 -- 628; 30. Richmond, 318-324 -- 642.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

1. Luke Donald, Northwestern, 73-68-72-71 -- 284; 2. (tie) Ryuji Imada, Georgia, 72-76-72-67 -- 287; and Troy Kelly, Washington, 75-71-70-71 -- 287; 4. Paul Casey, Arizona St., 72-77-69-72 -- 290; 5. Charles Howell, Oklahoma St., 71-77-70-73 -- 291; 6. (tie) Derek Gillespie, Arizona, 72-71-76-75 -- 294; and Max Harris, North Carolina, 70-75-72-77 -- 294; 8. (tie) Chris Wisler, East Tenn. St., 68-75-81-71 -- 295; and Lucas Glover, Clemson, 72-73-74-76 -- 295; 10. Don Hill, North Carolina, 70-76-77-73 -- 296; 11. Adam Scott, UNLV, 77-70-77-73 -- 297.

12. (tie) Adam Dooley, Minnesota, 77-77-74-70 -- 298; Matt Krauss, Duke, 75-75-73-75 -- 298; Jamie Rogers, Nebraska, 70-78-75-75 -- 298; and D.A. Points, Illinois, 73-71-78-76 -- 298; 16. (tie) Jeremy Anderson, UNLV, 71-85-74-69 -- 299; Brad Hyler, North Carolina, 76-78-73-72 -- 299; Erik Ciotti, Northwestern, 75-78-74-72 -- 299; Mark Henderson, Illinois, 73-79-74-73 -- 299; Jeremy Parrott, Georgia, 75-76-72-76 -- 299; Landry Mahan, Oklahoma St., 73-75-74-77 -- 299; and Jonathan Byrd, Clemson, 73-73-73-80 -- 299.

23. (tie) B.J. Staten, Houston, 73-78-78-71 -- 300; Gordy Scutt, Washington, 79-77-72-72 -- 300; Richard Elliott, Toledo, 74-76-76-74 -- 300; James McLean, Minnesota, 76-74-75-75 -- 300; Ryan Vermeer, Kansas, 70-79-76-75 -- 300; Jani Saari, Clemson, 75-73-77-75 -- 300; Steve Scott, Florida, 73-80-71-76 -- 300; Ryan Lavoie, Oregon, 71-78-75-76 -- 300; Andy Miller, Brigham Young, 73-74-77-76 -- 300; Billy Harvey, Brigham Young, 75-74-72-79 -- 300; and Mike Brennan, Houston, 74-75-72-79 -- 300.

34. (tie) David Christensen, East Tenn. St., 76-75-77-73 -- 301; Nick Cassini, Georgia, 76-79-72-74 -- 301; Jess Daley, Northwestern, 75-76-75-75 -- 301; Scott Miller, Brigham Young, 72-78-75-76 -- 301; and Michael Morrison, Georgia, 72-77-74-78 -- 301; 39. (tie) Andy Sanders, Houston, 73-79-76-74 -- 302; Edward Loar, Oklahoma St., 82-76-69-75 -- 302; Manuel Merizalde, Brigham Young, 73-72-81-76 -- 302; Jamie Elson, Augusta St., 70-80-75-77 -- 302; and Camilo Benedetti, Florida, 75-77-72-78 -- 302; 44. (tie) Rob Rashell, Washington, 79-76-75-73 -- 303; Mark Northey, Georgia, 73-76-78-76 -- 303; and Jeff Quinney, Arizona St., 72-79-74-78 -- 303.

47. (tie) Greg Padilla, Arizona St., 80-76-77-71 -- 304; Victor Schwamkrug, Houston, 77-77-74-76 -- 304; Peter Davidson, Oklahoma St., 72-80-72-80 -- 304; and Charley Hoffman, UNLV, 71-73-79-81 -- 304; 51. Steve Bradley, Florida, 75-79-75-76 -- 305; Jin Park, Arizona St., 74-76-79-76 -- 305; Scott Moore, Arizona, 75-75-77-78 -- 305; Josh Habig, Northwestern, 73-77-76-79 -- 305; Bill Thompson, Minnesota, 71-78-76-80 -- 305; and Steve Friesen, Nebraska, 77-71-77-80 -- 305.

57. (tie) Matt Jones, Arizona St., 79-78-76-73 -- 306; Michael Kirk, UNLV, 76-78-76-76 -- 306; Anders Hultman, Oklahoma St., 73-80-77-76 -- 306; Wade Ormsby, Houston, 77-75-75-79 -- 306; and Rich Morris, Arkansas, 73-74-80-79 -- 306; 62. (tie) Martin LeMesurier, Minnesota, 79-76-78-74 -- 307; and Scott Gutschewski, Nebraska, 77-75-78-77 -- 307; 64 (tie) Scott Kral, Washington, 82-77-75-74 -- 308; and Pat Beste, East Tenn. St., 80-77-76-75 -- 308; 66. Larry Nuger, Illinois, 79-74-76-80 -- 309; 67. Jose Garrido, Brigham Young, 77-80-78-75 -- 310.

68. (tie) John Engler, Clemson, 73-80-79-79 -- 311; and Robb Bergeson, Washington, 74-80-74-83 -- 311; 70. Nick Gilliam, Florida, 78-75-80-80 -- 313; 71. (tie) Josh Madden, Nebraska, 77-87-74-76 -- 314; Ed Parga, Illinois, 78-81-77-78 -- 314; and Chris Berry, UNLV, 80-77-79-78 -- 314; 74. Michael Hoey, Clemson, 81-78-80-76 -- 315; John Bloomfield, South Carolina, 74-76-83-82 -- 315; 76. Shawn Koch, East Tenn. St., 77-79-83-77 -- 316; 77. Paul Daniel, North Carolina, 85-78-76-80 -- 319; 78. David Shaffer, Northwestern, 79-82-81-78 -- 320.

79. Jeff Barney, Minnesota, 81-81-81-78 -- 321; 80. Taylor Walsh, Florida, 74-84-81-84 -- 323; 81. Eamonn Brady, East Tenn. St., 77-79-91-77 -- 324; 82. Seth Porter, Nebraska, 77-81-86-81 -- 325; 83. Rob Simmons, North Carolina, 78-84-80-88 -- 330; 84. Tim Riley, Illinois, 81-89-77-84 -- 331.

Did not make cut:

85. Dong Yi, California, 77-73 -- 150

  • ; 86. (tie) Martin Maritz, Tulsa, 76-75 -- 151; and Han Lee, California, 75-76 -- 151; 88. (tie) Chris Thompson, Kansas, 76-76 -- 152; and Phil Caravia, Mississippi, 75-77 -- 152; 90. (tie) Ben Fiala, Colorado, 80-73 -- 153; Darrin Overson, Colorado St., 80-73 -- 153; Chris Malloy, Mississippi, 74-79 -- 153; Adrian Burtner, Oregon, 74-79 -- 153; and Craig Lile, Arkansas, 71-82 -- 153.

    95. (tie) Mike Christensen, Duke, 81-73 -- 154; Chuck Radabaugh, Toledo, 81-73 -- 154; Jorge Corral, Southern California, 79-75 -- 154; Marc Chatelain, Duke, 78-76 -- 154; Bryce Molder, Georgia Tech, 77-77 -- 154; Eric Ecker, South Carolina, 76-78 -- 154; Dan Arroyo, California, 76-78 -- 154; Jamie Broce, Ball St., 75-79 -- 154; Alan Murray, Toledo, 75-79 -- 154; and Wes Latimer, Georgia Tech, 74-80 -- 154.

    105. (tie) Matt Call, Colorado, 79-76 -- 155; Derek Croskrey, Oregon, 78-77 -- 155; Michael Capone, Wake Forest, 77-78 -- 155; Jayce Stepp, Augusta St., 76-79 -- 155; and Nigel Spence, Colorado St., 75-80 -- 155; 110. (tie) Matthew Zions, Colorado, 80-76 -- 156; Mark Catalano, South Carolina, 78-78 -- 156; Jake Istnick, Kansas, 78-78 -- 156; Scott Piercy, San Diego St., 78-78 -- 156; Kyle Elfers, Duke, 77-79 -- 156; Knut Ekjord, Colorado, 76-80 -- 156; and Ken MacDonald, Richmond, 74-82 -- 156.

    117. (tie) D.J. Nelson, South Ala., 80-77 -- 157; Tim Rice, Toledo, 78-79 -- 157; Mike Kitowski, Colorado St., 78-79 -- 157; Ben Crane, Oregon, 77-80 -- 157; Jon Bartlett, Mississippi, 76-81 -- 157; and Troy Muller, Mississippi, 74-83 -- 157; 123. (tie) Daniel Brunson, South Carolina, 83-75 -- 158; Geoff Nuwash, Colorado St., 81-77 -- 158; Dan Coyle, California, 79-79 -- 158; James Stewart, San Diego St., 78-80 -- 158; Andy Barnes, Arizona, 77-81 -- 158; and Haymes Snedeker, Mississippi, 76-82 -- 158.

    129. (tie) Jeff Keck, Augusta St., 83-76 -- 159; Matt Kuchar, Georgia Tech, 83-76 -- 159; Kevin Kornowa, Toledo, 82-77 -- 159; Conrad Roberts, Kansas, 81-78 -- 159; Shawn Wills, Colorado, 83-77 -- 160; Justin Peters, Nevada, 82-78 -- 160; Carlton Forrester, Georgia Tech, 81-79 -- 160; Magnus Carlsson, San Diego St., 80-80 -- 160; and Kurt Cassidy, San Diego St., 72-88 -- 160.

    138. (tie) Ryan McLain, Richmond, 81-80 -- 161; Kyle Thompson, South Carolina, 80-81 -- 161; Robert Duck, Augusta St., 78-83 -- 161; Phil Walker, Arkansas, 78-83 -- 161; and Nigel Herd, Arkansas, 76-85 -- 161; 143. (tie) Mike Pearson, Georgia Tech, 82-80 -- 162; Joe Horowitz, Richmond, 82-80 -- 162; 145. (tie) Kevin Streelman, Duke, 82-81 -- 163; Aaron Saint, Arkansas, 82-81 -- 163; Gundy Jones, San Diego St., 81-82 -- 163; Robert Hamilton, California, 79-84 -- 163; and Robby Stephenson, Colorado St., 76-87 -- 163.

    150. (tie) Chad Moseley, Richmond, 83-82 -- 165; Tim Weiss, Arizona, 80-85 -- 165; and Cody Beyer, Arizona, 79-86 -- 165; 153. Casey Harbour, Kansas, 84-82 -- 166; 154. Andrew Tredway, Oregon, 85-82 -- 167; 155. Michael Webb, Augusta St., 85-83 -- 168; 156. Andrew Peden, Richmond, 81-88 -- 169.

  • Eliminated in six-person playoff.