M. golf lost in the Woods at Pac-10s
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 1, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 2, 1996
By Arthur Choung
Daily Bruin Contributor
Greg Norman he is not.
Tiger Woods extended his 12-stroke lead entering the final
round, to win the Pac-10 Championships at the Big Canyon Country
Club in Newport Beach.
In the process, he broke the tournament record set by UCLA’s
Corey Pavin in 1982 by three strokes, shooting a phenomenal
18-under-par 270. He also broke the course record of 66 in both
rounds the first day, shooting an 11-under-par 61 followed by a
7-under-par 65.
"This guy for 36 holes was unbeatable by any person on this
planet. No question about it, no doubt in my mind. It is the best
golf I’ve either seen on TV, seen in person, or even heard about,"
said UCLA’s Michael Miller, a member of Woods’ threesome, on
Monday. "The hardest thing to do in golf is to follow up a great
round with a good round, and he posted two course records."
Woods, a sophomore at Stanford, finished 14 strokes ahead of
Birk Nelson of Oregon State and USC’s Brian Hull, in a second-place
tie.
"It was really amazing," Hull said. "I’ve played with him
before, but I’ve never seen him play like that."
Despite Woods’ effort, Stanford finished fourth overall behind
Arizona State, USC, and California, respectively.
Arizona State won handily, outshooting the competition by 17
strokes. The Sun Devils claim their second title in as many years,
and their third in the past four. Five Arizona State players
finished in the top 10, with Chris Hanell leading the way,
finishing fourth overall. The teams consist of six man squads, with
the top five scores in each round counting toward the team
total.
UCLA finished a disappointing ninth, beating out only Oregon.
Entering this tournament, the Bruins had high expectations, coming
off a third-place finish at the U.S. Intercollegiate tournament,
beating out both USC and host Stanford.
"I felt really good about the game, and I thought the team did
too. We just couldn’t get started," said Miller, who finished 29th
overall, the top Bruin finish.
The Bruins hope to rebound in the NCAA Regionals which uses
five-man squads, counting the top four scores from each team.
"I like us much better at a five-count-four [tournament],"
Miller said. "We don’t seem to do as well in the six-man
tournaments."
