April 3, 2010

TEMPE, Ariz. – The Arizona men's golf team entered today's final round of competition in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational with a two stroke lead; the Cats finished the tournament six-under and tied for fourth place.

No. 3 Washington blasted a 16-under third round, the best of any round by any team all tournament by seven strokes, to climb from seventh place, where they started the day. The Huskies were 17 strokes off the lead when the day began, and seemed to be out of contention. Washington had four players shoot in the sixties, including a 64 (-7) by Chris Williams, to storm back and take the title.

The Huskies victory marks the first time in three years that ASU has not taken home the title in the event. The eighth-ranked Sun Devils finished in a three-way tie for eighth at four-over.

Arizona was led by Jonathan Khan, who tied for 11th at three-under. The Cats finished in a tie for fourth with two top-five teams, no. 4 Oregon and no. 2 Stanford.

Washington won the event by two strokes over the no. 6 UCLA Bruins, who were 11-under for the tournament. No. 14 USC finished third at 10-under.

San Diego State's J.J. Spaun chipped in from the rough to earn a playoff victory over Chris Williams of Washington. The two were eight-under for the tournament. Five players tied for third at six under.

In the first two rounds, eight of the 10 rounds played by UA golfers were played at or under par. In round three, no Wildcat recorded such a round. The best round by an Arizona player was a 72 (+1), carded by Juan Pablo Hernandez, who tied for 42nd in the event. Rich Saferian shot a 73 (+2), which dropped him out of the top-20, and into a tie for 24th. Philip Bagdade finished five-over and in a tie for 49th. Tarquin MacManus started the day in the top-20, but shot a 78 (+7) in the third round to drop him into a tie for 57th. Competing as individuals, Trent Redfern finished in a tie for 47th and Kenji Hernandez finished 88th.

The ASU Thunderbird Invitational was contested at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. a par 71, 7,057 yard course.

Up Next: Arizona will compete in the Pac-10 Championship April 26-28, also played at Karsten. The JV team will stay in state April 5 and 6 for the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale. These are legs four and five in Arizona's five in state tournaments to conclude the season.

Top Five Teams

1 Washington   287 284 268     839 -13

2 UCLA           281 277 283     841 -11

3 USC             278 278 286     842 -10

4 Oregon          287 282 277     846 -6

   Arizona         278 276 292     846 -6

   Stanford        281 290 275     846 -6

Top Five Individuals

1 Chris Williams, Washington               72 69 64     205 -8

   J.J. Spaun, San Diego State               69 66 70     205 -8

3 Andrew Cooley, San Diego State      66 74 67     207 -6

   Nick Taylor, Washington                   70 70 67     207 -6

   John Chin, UC-Irvine                         72 64 71     207 -6

   Eugene Wong, Oregon                      69 68 70     207 -6   

   Matthew Giles, USC                         70 68 69     207 -6

Arizona Finishers

T11 Jonathan Khan                  68 69 73     210 -3

T24 Rich Saferian                     70 70 73     213 E

T42 Juan Pablo Hernandez       69 75 72     216 +3

T45 Trent Redfern*                  71 72 74     217 +4

T49 Philip Bagdade                  77 67 74     218 +5

T57 Tarquin MacManus           71 70 78     219 +6

88 Kenji Hernandez*                83 77 78     238 +25

*Competed as an individual