May 18, 2002
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Despite shooting the day's best round at the NCAA Central Regional Championships, Northwestern's men's golf season has come to an end.
The Wildcats faced a double-digit stroke deficit heading into the final round, but despite a 5-over 293 on a windy day at the Pleasant Valley Country Club, they fell two strokes shy of forcing a two-team playoff with Colorado for the 10th and final spot. A top-10 finish would have earned NU its fifth NCAA nationals trip in the last six years. As a result, Northwestern finished 13th overall (298-297-293=888). The top four teams -- Oklahoma State, Purdue, Tulsa and Illinois -- all shot either 8- or 9-over-par on Saturday.
Although the team fell short of making the cut, sophomore Tom Johnson (Fair Oaks, Calif./Del Campo) finished in a fifth-place tie and earned one of the region's three individual tickets to the NCAA Championships, which begin May 29 in Columbus, Ohio. Johnson turned in one of his best performances of the year and shot a 3-under 213 (72-70-71) for the three days.
"I was proud of our effort today, considering the conditions," said Head Coach Pat Goss. "Tom, Scott and Bjorn played some great golf. We just couldn't get a good fourth score this week -- that's been our achilles heel all season.
"I'm glad that Tom will get a chance to play at nationals. He played terrific."
Scott Harrington (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) and Bjorn Widerstedt (Vasteras, Sweden) finished in 17th and 33rd place, respectively. Harrington climbed into the top 20 after firing a 1-under 71 on Saturday like Johnson. Harrington was 2-over (74-73-71) for the tourney. Widerstedt finished 5-over after rounds of 73-75-73.
Purdue and Oklahoma State tied for the team championship. Interestingly, all three NCAA Regionals had co-champions; Clemson and Georgia Tech tied in the East and New Mexico and Washington tied in the West. Purdue's Lee Williamson, the Big Ten Player of the Year, won the individual title with a 7-under 209.
Complete team and individual results can be found on the web site of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, the host school for the event, at
NCAA DIVISION I MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS -- CENTRAL REGIONAL FINAL TEAM RESULTS Hosted by University of Arkansas, Little Rock Pleasant Valley Country Club, Little Rock, Ark. May 18, 2002
FIN. SCHOOL TP THRU SAT RD#1 RD#2 RD#3 FINAL T1 Oklahoma State U. +1 F +9 287 281 297 865 T1 Purdue University +1 F +8 290 279 296 865 3 Tulsa, U. of +12 F +9 296 283 297 876 4 Illinois, U. of +15 F +8 293 290 296 879 5 North Carolina State +16 F +12 294 286 300 880 6 Toledo, U. of +17 F +15 291 287 303 881 7 Baylor University +18 F +16 292 286 304 882 T8 TCU +21 F +16 289 292 304 885 T8 Virginia Tech +21 F +14 296 287 302 885 10 Colorado, U. of +22 F +11 294 293 299 886 T11 Kansas, U. of +23 F +20 289 290 308 887 T11 Oklahoma, U. of +23 F +22 289 288 310 887 13 Northwestern +24 F +5 298 297 293 888 14 Southern Methodist +27 F +18 291 294 306 891 15 Alabama, U. of +29 F +18 292 295 306 893 16 Louisiana State U. +34 F +17 301 292 305 898 T17 Lamar University +37 F +9 306 298 297 901 T17 Texas-Arlington +37 F +13 303 297 301 901 19 Houston, Univ. of +42 F +13 304 301 301 906 20 Missouri, U. of +45 F +19 298 304 307 909 21 Maryland, U. of +48 F +21 299 304 309 912 22 Arkansas State U. +57 F +19 314 300 307 921 23 St. John's Univ. +59 F +15 308 312 303 923 24 Austin Peay State U. +68 F +23 313 308 311 932 25 Princeton University +75 F +24 314 313 312 939 26 Army +89 F +28 319 318 316 953 - Jackson State Univ. DNF F - - - - DNF
NU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS T5 Tom Johnson 72-70-71=213 (-3) T17 Scott Harrington 74-73-71=218 (+2) T33 Bjorn Widerstedt 73-75-73=221 (+5) T117 Chris Thayer 79-80-78=237 (+21) T120 Casey Strunk 80-79-79=238 (+22)