University of Washington
Pac-12 Championships
Huskies Finish Fifth At Pac-12 Championships
April 29, 2015 | Men's Golf
Live Scoring | Pac-12 Championships Central
PULLMAN, Wash. – No. 12 Washington finished up a solid week at the Pac-12 Championships, finishing fifth, but never really getting it going to contend for the lead. On Wednesday, the Huskies shot a 12-over 362 to finish at 35-over 1435 for the week.
"It's a really disappointing finish," said head coach Matt Thurmond. "We believe we can win and we prepared to play at that level. It's just really tough to win and it was going to take our team's best effort against a conference like this."
No. 13 Stanford came from behind to win the Pac-12 title, behind individual champion Maverick McNealy. The Cardinal entered the final round down nine shots, but had the best score of the day, a 10-under 340 to win in convincing fashion. No. 8 Oregon also played well over the final round to climb to a tie for second at 10-over, while No. 3 Arizona State settled for that T-2nd after leading coming into the final round. No. 16 USC took fourth at 20-over, while the Dawgs were fifth, just ahead of Oregon State, No. 25 California and No. 14 UCLA.
"Our guys played hard, but we just didn't have our best this week," said Thurmond.
McNealy won the individual title in dominant fashion, finishing the week at 18-under and winning by 10 over Aaron Wise of Oregon who was second at 8-under. McNealy's final round of 9-under 61 was the course record at Palouse Ridge. He was one of only five players to finish in red figures for the week.
The Dawgs were led by Cheng-Tsung Pan who finished in a tie for sixth at even par. Pan shot a final round of even-par 70, the same score he shot for each round of the tournament. Wednesday, Pan made two early bogeys, but played the back nine at 2-under with no bogeys to get back to even par. It was the second top-10 for Pan at the Pac-12 Championships, following his runner-up finish last season.
Corey Pereira also had a high overall finish, placing tied for 13th at 2-over 282 for the championship. The sophomore closed with a 4-over 74 to fall out of the top-10, but was still a strong overall finish.
Freshman Jordan Lu matched Pan's 70 on Wednesday for the best of the day for the Huskies. He made four birdies and four bogeys on the day to climb to 43rd for the tournament at 13-over 293.
Fellow freshman Frank Garber finished tied for 34th at 10-over 290, after a final round of 2-over 72.
Jonathan Sanders struggled with his final 18, shooting a 7-over 77 to fall to a tie for 44th. He had his score thrown out and will look forward to moving on to regionals where he is the defending champion.
Chris Babcock rounded out the Husky squad in a tie for 54th at 18-over 298. He closed with a final round of 6-over 76.
The Dawgs will now move onto the NCAA Regional that they will host at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., on May 14-16. The announcement of the Regional fields will be Monday, May 4, but the Huskies will be guaranteed to play at home.
"Our focus is now on the Regional coming up at Gold Mountain," said Thurmond. "We love that course and can't wait to earn another trip to the NCAA's."
Players Mentioned
