April 12, 2003
TEMPE, Ariz. - An under-par final round failed to make up any ground for the San Diego State men's golf team, which actually slipped two spots in the standings to a 12th-place finish at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational at ASU's Karsten Course. The Aztecs (-12, 852), who began the day in 10th place but just 10 strokes out of second, shot a 3-under 285 for the final round but 14 other teams posted lower scores on the day.
Despite finishing out of the top 10 for only the second time in 10 events, SDSU's 12-under total was its third-best score of the year. However, the Thunderbird field - which included nine top-30 teams - also took advantage of the great scoring conditions, which resulted in host Arizona State compiling a tournament-record 40-under-par 824 to win its home event for the 11th time in the last 14 years. The Sun Devils (No. 22 Golfweek/No. 17 Golfstat) claimed an eight-shot win over No. 29/25 USC (-32, 832), while No. 27/29 Pepperdine took third place (-29, 835).
SDSU did claim head-to-head victories over MWC rival New Mexico (14th, 856) and No. 10/5 UCLA (19th, 872).
Senior John Lieber (San Diego, Calif./Grossmont HS) picked up where he left off early in the spring with an impressive 11th-place showing at 8-under 208. Lieber, who shot three straight under-par rounds (70-69-69) for the first time in his last 16 events, picked up his third top-20 result of the spring. He finished seven shots behind medalist David Schultz of TCU, the 32nd-rated player in the country by Golfweek, who registered a 15-under 201.
Senior Brian Miller (Madras, Ore./Saddleback JC) shot a 3-under 69 for the final 18 and moved up 12 spots in the standings to finish in 36th place at 3-under 213, matching the third-best score of his SDSU career. Sophomore Aaron Choi (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) gave the Aztecs their third total of par or better for the third time this year by tying for 53rd place at even-par 216.
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, finished 75-74 and shared 59th place at 1-over 217. Senior John Lepak (La Habra Heights, Calif./Oregon State) shot a final-round 73 and tied for 78th at 220.
SDSU plays its final regular-season event at the Stanford-hosted U.S. Intercollegiate, held April 19-20 at the Stanford Golf Course.
FINAL RESULTSASU Thunderbird InvitationalKarsten CourseTempe, AZDates: 04/11 - 04/12(Today:04-12-2003)Par: 72Yardage: 7027
Fin. School Scores 1 Arizona State U. 281 270 273 824 -40 2 Southern California 280 279 273 832 -32 3 Pepperdine Univ. 279 278 278 835 -29 4 TCU 278 281 277 836 -28 5 Oklahoma, U. of 277 287 276 840 -24 6 Texas, Univ. of 287 279 277 843 -21 7 Stanford University 288 277 279 844 -20 Arizona, U. of 283 277 284 844 -20 9 UNLV 288 284 274 846 -18 10 Houston, Univ. of 288 283 278 849 -15 Brigham Young Univ. 279 284 286 849 -15 12 San Diego State U. 278 289 285 852 -12 13 Arizona St. Maroon 294 282 279 855 -9 14 New Mexico, U. of 289 281 286 856 -8 15 Washington State U. 288 286 284 858 -6 16 Oregon, U. of 286 299 274 859 -5 17 Colorado, U. of 287 293 282 862 -2 Oregon State U. 286 289 287 862 -2 19 UCLA 285 292 295 872 +8
Top 10 IndividualsFin. Name School Scores 1 David Schultz TCU 68 66 67 201 -15
2 David Oh USC 68 70 66 204 -12
3 Chris Nallen Arizona 70 68 67 205 -11 Greg Machtaler BYU 69 66 70 205 -11
5 Chez Reavie Arizona St 73 68 65 206 -10 Brady Stockton Arizona St 67 70 69 206 -10
7 Taylor Wood USC 73 68 66 207 -9 Travis Whisman UNLV 69 71 67 207 -9 Matthew Rosenfeld Texas 72 66 69 207 -9 Jim Seki Stanford 69 68 70 207 -9
SDSU Individuals Fin. School Scores 12 San Diego State U. 278 289 285 852 T 11 John Lieber 70 69 69 208 T 36 Brian Miller 71 73 69 213 T 53 Aaron Choi 69 72 75 216 T 59 Mark Warman 68 75 74 217 T 78 John Lepak 72 75 73 220