Feb. 25, 2002
RIO MAR, Puerto Rico -- Northwestern's men's golf team savored its best day of the early spring season, finishing with a six-over-par 288 to move into an 11th-place tie with 13th-ranked Oklahoma and 12th-ranked Georgia. Sitting two strokes ahead of the Wildcats is sixth-ranked Texas.
The final round of play begins at 8 a.m. EST Tuesday at the Westin Rio Mar Beach Resort and Country Club, a 6,945-yard, par 72 course.
Sophomore Tom Johnson (Fair Oaks, Calif./Del Campo), the nation's 21st-ranked golfer according to the Golfweek/Sagarin performance index, fired a two-under-par 70 to move into a 21st-place tie. He is 11 strokes behind tourney leader Troy Matteson (10-under-par) of Georgia Tech. Junior Bjorn Widerstedt (Vasteras, Sweden) continued his best tournament of the year, shooting an even-par 72 to remain tied with Johnson.
Sophomore T.C. Ford (Covington, La./Mandeville) took four strokes off his first-round effort and finished with a 74 to climb into a 56th-place tie (78-74=152). Senior Chris Thayer (76-78=154) and junior Scott Harrington (75-80=155) round out NU's individuals.
Top-ranked Georgia Tech, seeking its third straight Puerto Rico Classic crown, holds a comfortable 18-stroke lead over Clemson heading into the third and final round. Northwestern is trying to better its 10th-place finish of a year ago.
2002 Puerto Rico Classic Rio Mar, Puerto Rico Place Team 1st Rd. 2nd Rd. 3rd Rd. Total 1st Georgia Tech 275 275 550 2nd Clemson 279 289 568 3rd Purdue 293 278 571 T-4th Florida 293 288 581 T-4th Minnesota 294 287 581 6th East Tenn. St. 295 288 583 7th Colorado 289 295 584 8th N.C. State 303 282 585 9th Duke 296 292 588 10th Texas 289 302 591 T-11th Northwestern 299 294 593 T-11th Georgia 293 300 593 T-11th Oklahoma 295 298 593 14th Virginia 299 303 602 15th Kent State 308 295 603NU Individual Results T21 Tom Johnson 75-70=145 T21 Bjorn Widerstedt 73-72=145 T56 T.C. Ford 78-74=152 T61 Chris Thayer 76-78=154 68 Scott Harrington 75-80=155