Nov. 6, 2001
LAKESIDE, Calif. - After scorching the Barona Creek Golf Club course during Monday's first and second rounds of the Aztec Invitational, most of the 17-team field came back to earth during Tuesday's final 18 holes, as gusting winds and tougher pin placements played havoc with scores.
Monday saw 10 of the 17 teams finish the opening 36 holes below par. Just four were able to turn the trick during the final 18 holes Tuesday, including Ohio state which used a huge third-round charge to capture the team title.
San Diego State, which was 25-under after two rounds, came out sluggish and was a combined 5-over at the turn. That opening was just what the 13th-ranked Buckeyes needed, as OSU got a 7-under 65 from Justin Collins and a 2-under 70 from Jason Oien en route to a final round 7-under par 281 team total to overtake the Aztecs.
Led by John Lieber's 9-under par three-round total 207, SDSU made up five strokes down the stretch to finish at 2-under 286 on the day and a season-low 27-under 837 for the tournament. But it wasn't enough to catch the red-hot Buckeyes, who carded a 28-under par total of 836 to hold on for a one-shot win.
"This tournament pretty much typified our fall, which has been very inconsistent," said Aztec head coach Dale Walker. "We were 18 under during yesterday's second round and that's as good as it gets in college golf. But we got off to a slow start today and that opened the door for Ohio State."
Like the team tournament, the individual battle also went down to the wire. Fresno State's Nick Watney held off late charges from Collins and Texas-El Paso's Chris Baryla to take medalist honors, finishing at 10-under par 206. Collins and Baryla tied for second one shot back at 9-under 207, followed by Lieber and BYU's Manuel Merizalde.
Other Aztecs placing in the top 10 were Lars Johansson of SDSU's "A" team and Chris Galeski and Gilberto Rodriguez of the "B" squad. The trio all fired season bests, finishing at 6-under 210.
"Overall I'm proud of our guys," Walker said. "They showed some real competitiveness on the back nine when they could have easily folded their tents and let things get away. They refused to let that happen and really went after Ohio State. I think we can use this as a springboard for a strong run next spring because this result and the way we came back will make us a better team."
San Diego State begins that run when the Aztecs open their spring season Feb. 20-22 in Hawaii at the John Burns Invitational.