April 3, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. - San Diego State golfer J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) earned his first collegiate individual title Saturday in dramatic fashion, winning on the first playoff hole to claim medalist honors at the prestigious Thunderbird Invitational at the par-71, 7,057-yard Karstern Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. Spaun finished the 54 holes tied with Washington's Chris Williams with a career-low 8-under 205, and later chipped in from the rough for a birdie on the par-4 18th hole to earn the title outright.
Spaun was second overall entering the final 18 holes with a 135, but found himself at 2-over through the first nine holes of Saturday's final round. The sophomore regrouped and notched birdies on the one, three and six holes to end the morning with a 1-under 70 to tie Williams and force the playoff. Spaun's previous best finish for a 54-hole tournament was seventh on three occasions a year ago, including at the Mountain West Conference championships.
Classmate Andrew Cooley (New Haw, England) also produced a standout tournament as he moved from a tie for 11th to a five-way tie for third with a career-low 6-under 207. Cooley posted a final round 67, which saw him log his second eagle of the tournament and birdie five other holes.
Aztec junior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) tied for 64th at 8-over 221, including a final round 2-over 73, while sophomore Alex Kang came in 77th with a 226. Freshman Tom Berry (New Haw, England) posted his low round of the tournament by two strokes with a 74, but still finished 81st at 15-over 228.
As a team, the Aztecs moved from a tie for ninth into a tie for eight with No. 8 and host Arizona State and No. 10 UNLV at 4-over 856, including a 284 on Saturday. Third-ranked Washington jumped from ninth all the way to first with a tournament low 268 to end up two strokes better than No. 6 UCLA.
San Diego State returns to action next Sunday for the three-day U.S. Intercollegiate in Stanford, Calif., April 11.
38th annual Thunderbird Invitational
Tempe, Ariz. - April 2-3
Karsten Golf Course - Par 71, 7,057 yards
Final Results
Team Scoring (Top 10 teams out of 16)
1 Washington 287-284-268-839 (-13) 2 UCLA 281-277-283-841 (-11) 3 USC 278-278-286-842 (-10) 4 Oregon 287-282-277-846 (-6) Arizona 278-276-292-846 (-6) Stanford 281-290-275-846 (-6) 7 Oregon State 292-280-279-851 (-1) 8 San Diego State 282-290-284-856 (+4) Arizona State 291-276-289-856 (+4) UNLV 289-286-281-856 (+4)
Individuals (Top 7 Individuals out of 89)1 J.J. Spaun, SDSU 69-66-70-205 (-8)* Chris Williams, Washington 72-69-64-205 (-8) 3 Andrew Cooley, SDSU 66-74-67-207 (-6) John Chin, UC Irvine 72-64-71-207 (-6) Matthew Giles, USC 70-68-69-207 (-6) Nick Taylor, Washington 70-70-67-207 (-6) Eugene Wong, Oregon 69-68-70-207 (-6) *=Won on playoff hole
Other San Diego State Players T64. Johan Carlsson 71-77-73-221 (+8) T77. Alex Kang 77-73-76-226 (+13) T81. Tom Berry 76-78-74-228 (+15)