April 30, 2005
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State shot a final round score of 290 on Saturday, its best round of the tournament, and finished in fourth place at the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championships in Sunriver, Ore.
The Aztecs were two-over-par Saturday and finished the 54-hole tournament with at 11-over-par. New Mexico claimed the team title with a three-round score of 8-under-par. UNLV finished in second place three shots back, followed by Brigham Young five shots behind the Lobos. SDSU took fourth place with a comfortable 11-stroke advantage over fifth-place Colorado State. Wyoming, Utah and Air Force rounded out the team standings.
Individually, San Diego State junior Josh Warthen recorded his first top 10 finish of the season. He shot a 75 on Saturday and ended the championships at 2-over-par and tied for ninth place. Warthen, who started the day in a third place tie, finished 10 strokes behind the individual medalist, Brigham Young's Nick Becker.
Senior Linus Nilsson shot 74 in the third round and finished the tournament in a tie for 12th at 3-over-par. Senior Aaron Choi and junior Andrew Scott each produced their best round of the tournament on Saturday. Choi, survived bogeys on the first two holes to shoot an even-par 72. He ended the tournament at 6-over-par. Scott produced the best round by an Aztec player at the MWC Championships and one of just six rounds in the 60s on Saturday as he fired a 3-uner-par 69. He was even after nine holes, but four birdies in a six-hole stretch en route to a 33 on the back nine. He finished the tournament at 6-over-par. Gilberto Rodriguez finished with a 6-over-par 78 and ended with a 54-hole total of 9-over-par.
San Diego State's team total of 875 is the fifth lowest total for an Aztec team at a 54-hole conference tournament.
Following the championship, Choi and Scott were named to the 11-member all-conference team.
Final Team Results1. New Mexico 285-28-2865--856 (-8)2. UNLV 294-287-278--589 (-5)3. Brigham Young 292-282-287--861 (-3)4. San Diego State 292-293-290--875 (+11)5. Colorado State 297-292-297--886 (+22)6. Wyoming 300-311-287--898 (+34)7. Utah 300-296-308--904 (+40)8. Air Force 312-302-293--907 (+43)
Final Individual Leaders1. Nick Becker, BYU 71-69-68--208 (-8)2. Spencer Levin, New Mexico 69-70-70--209 (-7)3. Ron Harvey, Jr., BYU 71-72-70--213 (-3) Ryan Moore, UNLV 74-70-69--213 (-3)5. Jay Choi, New Mexico 70-74-70--214 (-2) Ryan Keeney, UNLV 73-72-69--214 (-2)
San Diego State Individual Final Scores9. Josh Warthen 71-72-75--218 (+2)12. Linus Nilsson 72-73-74--219 (+3)22. Aaron Choi 76-74-72--222 (+6)22. Andrew Scott 77-76-69--222 (+6)26. Gilberto Rodriguez 73-74-78--225 (+9)