April 11, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - After a first-round 10-under 278 had it standing in second place, the San Diego State men's golf team shot a second-round 289 and slipped into 10th place after 36 holes of the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. Despite the slide, the Aztecs' two-round total of 9-under 567 sits within 10 shots of second place in the crowded and talented field that includes nine top-30 teams.
Each player shot par or better in the first round for SDSU, which recorded its second-lowest score of the season behind a first-round 276 at the Barona Collegiate Cup. But while the Aztecs were compiling their 1-over total for the second round, 14 of the other 18 teams were besting par for the second 18. That group includes host Arizona State (No. 22 Golfweek/No. 17 Golfstat), which at 25-under 551 is just seven strokes off the tournament-record 32-under 832 set by Texas last year. The Sun Devils, who have won 10 of the last 14 editions of their home event, fired an 18-under 270 in the second round and stands six shots ahead of second-place Pepperdine (-19, 557).
Resting in the 10 shots that separate No. 33/31 San Diego State from second place are seven teams, five of which are ranked ahead of the Aztecs. Within striking range are No. 7/4 TCU (T-3rd, 559), No. 4/8 Arizona (5th, 560) and No. 2/3 Texas (9th, 566).
Senior John Lieber (San Diego, Calif./Grossmont HS) put together back-to-back under-par rounds for the second time this year and stands in a pack of six in 11th place at 5-under 139. Lieber shot 70-69 and stands five shots back of leader David Schultz of TCU, the 32nd-rated player in the country by Golfweek, who sits at 10-under 134.
Next in line for the Aztecs is sophomore Aaron Choi (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) who at 69-72 shot consecutive par-or-better rounds in an event for the first time while playing in the starting lineup. Choi is among nine players tied for 22nd at 3-under 141, a group that includes 2001 U.S. Public Links champion Chez Reavie of ASU.
Junior Mark Warman (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS), who was tied for third and just one shot back after shooting a first-round 68, followed up with a 75 and is tied for 39th at 1-under 141. Senior Brian Miller (Madras, Ore./Saddleback JC) shot 71-73 and is tied for 48th at even-par 144, so should the current results hold up for the final round, SDSU would have four players at par or better for only the second time in its last 17 events. Senior John Lepak (La Habra Heights, Calif./Oregon State) shares 76th place at 3-over 147.
Play at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational concludes tomorrow morning, with leader ASU teeing off at 8:30 a.m.
ASU Thunderbird InvitationalKarsten CourseTempe, AZDates: 04/11 - 04/12(Today:04-11-2003)Par: 72Yardage: 7027
Fin. School Scores 1 Arizona State U. 281 270 551 -25 2 Pepperdine Univ. 279 278 557 -19 3 TCU 278 281 559 -17 Southern California 280 279 559 -17 5 Arizona, U. of 283 277 560 -16 6 Brigham Young Univ. 279 284 563 -13 7 Oklahoma, U. of 277 287 564 -12 8 Stanford University 288 277 565 -11 9 Texas, Univ. of 287 279 566 -10 10 San Diego State U. 278 289 567 -9 11 New Mexico, U. of 289 281 570 -6 12 Houston, Univ. of 288 283 571 -5 13 UNLV 288 284 572 -4 14 Washington State U. 288 286 574 -2 15 Oregon State U. 286 289 575 -1 16 Arizona St. Maroon 294 282 576 E 17 UCLA 285 292 577 +1 18 Colorado, U. of 287 293 580 +4 19 Oregon, U. of 286 299 585 +9
Top 10 Individuals Fin. Name School Scores 1 David Schultz TCU 68 66 134 -10
2 Greg Machtaler BYU 69 66 135 -9
3 Kendall Critchfield Arizona St 71 65 136 -8
4 Brian O'Flaherty Pepperdine 70 67 137 -7 Jim Seki Stanford 69 68 137 -7 Brady Stockton Arizona St 67 70 137 -7
7 Michael Letzig New Mexico 74 64 138 -6 Chris Nallen Arizona 70 68 138 -6 Matthew Rosenfeld Texas 72 66 138 -6 David Oh USC 68 70 138 -6
SDSU Individuals Fin. School Scores 10 San Diego State U. 278 289 567 T 11 John Lieber 70 69 139 T 22 Aaron Choi 69 72 141 T 39 Mark Warman 68 75 143 T 48 Brian Miller 71 73 144 T 76 John Lepak 72 75 147