|
Ryan
Moore, shown here playing with the AJGA
in 2001, won the NCAA Division I Men's Golf
Championship Friday. |
Moore
the Latest AJGA Alum to Win NCAA Championship
Ryan Moore’s list of junior
accomplishments runs long. His college resume
is running even longer after winning the NCAA
Division I Men’s Golf Championship Friday.
Moore, who was playing as an individual after
his UNLV team failed to reach the NCAA Championships,
proved to be the class of the field.
The difficult Cascades Golf Course at The Homestead
Resort was made even more dicey in the final
round by the cold rain. Only seven of the 81
competitors played 72 holes under par, making
Moore’s 13-under all the more impressive.
Moore
entered the event as the nation’s No.
2 college player behind fellow AJGA alum Bill
Haas of Wake Forest. He entered the final round
with a two-stroke edge over former AJGA player
and current Arizona Wildcat Chris Nallen. Moore
carded a 4-under-par 66 in the round to make
sure nobody caught him. In the end, Moore finished
six shots ahead of Haas and Nallen, who tied
for second at 7-under-par.
During
his AJGA years, Moore won three AJGA events,
including the 2001 Thunderbird International
Junior. He was a first-team Rolex Junior All-American
that same year.
Nallen
was first-team Rolex Junior All-American in
2000, but may be best remembered for going toe-to-toe
with Sergio Garcia at the 1998 Marsh Junior
at Apawamis, eventually finishing runner-up
to Garcia. Haas was a two-time honorable mention
Rolex Junior All-American in 1998-99.
AJGA
alumni rounded out the complete top nine, as
Michael Putnam (Purdue) placed fourth, Travis
Johnson (UCLA) finished fifth, John Holmes (Kentucky)
and Mark Leon (Penn State) tied for sixth, and
Jason Hartwick (Texas) and Matt Wells (Kentucky)
shared eighth.
In
the team competition, the California Golden
Bears, featuring three AJGA alumni, won the
title. Peter Tomasulo, who tied for 10th, Michael
Wilson and Scott Carlyle, helped Cal to a remarkable
1-under-par in the final round to finish six
shots ahead of runner-up UCLA.
The
Bruins put together a starting five of AJGA
veterans, including Johnson, who received the
AJGA Jerry Cole Sportsmanship Award in 1998.
The other players included Roy Moon, who tied
for 10th with Johnson, as well as John Merrick,
Steve Conway, and John Poucher.
Arizona
placed third, on the strength of Nallen and
four other AJGA alumni: Mark Lamb, Henry Liaw,
Nick Juszczak and Josh Esler.
Fourth-place
Texas was paced by five AJGA alumni, as well:
Hartwick, Matthew Rosenfeld, Jeff Bell, Farren
Keenan and Rusty Kennedy.
Georgia
Tech rounded out the top five with, you guessed
it, five AJGA alumni: Nicholas Thompson, Chan
Wongluekiet, Michael Barbosa, Roberto Castro
and Kevin Larsen.
In
all, four of the top-five teams consisted entirely
of AJGA alumni.