Feb. 22, 2005
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Northwestern's Chris Wilson (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Coffman) registered a career-best 2-under 70 on Tuesday, which lifted the sophomore to a personal-best sixth-place showing at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship, which annually showcases some of the nation's top golfers.
Wilson, who finished the tournament with a second-most 38 pars, registered 13 pars and four birdies for 17 of Tuesday's 18 holes. Dating to last October's Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, Wilson now has two top-10 finishes and three rounds (out of five) of par or better.
As a team, the Wildcats shot their best round of the three-day tournament (3-over 295) and placed 16th. Florida, which was led by tourney champion Matt Every (1-under 215), edged out Alabama for the team crown.
Besides Wilson's 2-under 70, NU also received strong rounds from freshman Dan Doyle (Rochester, Mich./Stoney Creek) and sophomore David Merkow (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead Union). Merkow and Doyle both fired 1-over 73's on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 65th place. Doyle had rounds of 75, 82 and 73 (14-over 230) while Merkow recorded scores of 78, 79 and 73.
Junior Bryson Young (Reno, Nev./Galena) finished 85th at 28-over (83-82-79=244), while redshirt junior Dillon Dougherty (Woodland, Calif./Woodland) placed 86th with a 31-over 247 (85-82-80).
Final results are available for the tournament by linking to Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championship. Other tournament information can be found at North Florida Sports News.
The Wildcats return to action this Sunday at the Puerto Rico Classic (Feb. 27-March 1) in Rio Grande, P.R. Once again, the Wildcats will be facing some of the nation's top programs, including Mercedes-Benz champion Florida.