April 7, 2002
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Bolstered by a 1-under-par 287 team total on Sunday, Northwestern's men's golf team made a late charge at the U.S. Collegiate Championships and finished ninth, one stroke behind UNLV and five behind Houston. The Wildcats came back from a rough outing on Saturday when they shot a 311 in windy conditions at the Tucson National Golf Club.
Sophomore Tom Johnson (Fair Oaks, Calif./Del Campo) turned in his best showing of the spring, finishing fifth with a 5-under-par 211. He shot a career-best 67 on Friday, 75 on Saturday and 69 on Sunday. Johnson, who began the week 42nd in the Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings, figures to climb in this week's poll after his strong effort. Oklahoma State's Hunter Mahan, ranked fifth nationally, won the tournament despite triple-bogeying No. 18 on Sunday. Johnson finished ahead of 35th-ranked Andy Doeden (TCU) and 29th-ranked Matt Weibring (Georgia Tech).
Sophomore Casey Strunk (Phoenix, Ariz./Thunderbird), playing in his first collegiate event of the year, shot a 2-under-par 70 and finished in a 36th-place tie. Juniors Bjorn Widerstedt (Vasteras, Sweden/Flagler College) and Scott Harrington (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) fired 2-over 74's on Sunday. Widerstedt placed 48th and Harrington was 54th. Senior Chris Thayer (Richmond, Va./Godwin) finished 13-over-par and tied for 51st.
Sophomore T.C. Ford (Covington, La./Mandeville), who was competing as an individual, shot a 2-under-par 70 on Sunday and tied for 41st.
The Wildcats return to action Friday, April 12 at the Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio.
FINAL RESULTS U.S. Collegiate Golf Championships * Individual Tucson National G.C. Tucson, AZ Dates: 04/05 - 04/07 (Today:04-07-2002) Par: 72 Yardage: 7094Fin. Top 20 Teams Scores 1 Texas, Univ. of 278 290 291 859 2 Arizona, U. of 290 287 284 861 3 Oklahoma State U. 281 296 286 863 4 TCU 289 297 283 869 5 Georgia Tech 282 300 289 871 6 Arizona State U. 286 294 295 875 7 Houston, Univ. of 280 301 301 882 8 UNLV 296 300 290 886 9 Northwestern 289 311 287 887 10 Kent State 297 304 302 903
Fin. Top 20 Players School Scores 1 Hunter Mahan Okla. St. 62 73 69 204 2 Chris Nallen Arizona 65 73 68 206 3 John Klauk Texas 67 70 71 208 4 J.J. Wall Texas 67 71 71 209 5 Tom Johnson N'western 67 75 69 211 6 Andy Doeden TCU 70 73 70 213 7 Matt Weibring Ga. Tech 69 73 72 214 8 Par Nilsson Okla. St. 70 75 71 216 9 *Scott Ferguson Houston 72 73 72 217 10 Chez Reavie Arizona St 71 74 73 218 Ben Flam Arizona St 69 79 70 218 Nicholas Thompson Ga. Tech 68 78 72 218 13 Simon Robinson Houston 67 77 75 219 Kevin Hermis Houston 66 73 80 219 Steve Lohmeyer Kent State 72 73 74 219 16 Brad McIntosh Houston 74 75 71 220 Kris Mikkelsen Ga. Tech 72 74 74 220 Jesse Mueller Arizona St 71 73 76 220 *Steve Shuert TCU 70 71 79 220 20 Ricky Barnes Arizona 72 75 74 221 J.J. Killeen TCU 79 71 71 221 Rusty Kennedy Texas 76 72 73 221 Stephen Polanski TCU 72 80 69 221
NU Results 5 Tom Johnson 67 75 69 211 T36 Casey Strunk 77 78 70 225 T41 T.C. Ford * 76 80 70 226 T48 Bjorn Widerstedt 74 80 74 228 T51 Chris Thayer 73 78 78 229 T54 Scott Harrington 75 81 74 230