Bruin men's golf struggle to third-place finish at Western Intercollegiate
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 15, 2012 8:26 p.m.
After playing against the most talented golfers in the world on one of the most difficult courses, one could forgive UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay for taking the Western Intercollegiate lightly.
Cantlay, though, stuck to his season-long motto of approaching every round the same by attacking the Pasatiempo Golf Club course throughout the weekend, posting his best finish by far of 2012.
Cantlay shot consistently throughout the tournament, finishing second on the individual leaderboard behind his score of 208 (-2). He peaked in the final round when he shot a 68 (-2), the third best score of the tournament.
Although Cantlay experienced success, the other Bruins failed to match it, as they ended the tournament with a score of 1067 ( 17), good for a third-place finish.
Aside from Cantlay, no Bruin was able to finish the Western Collegiate under par.
The theme of the tournament for much of the No. 4 UCLA men’s golf team was a reversal from previous tournaments.
Freshman Jay Hwang along with junior Pontus Widegren embodied the negative side of this reversal. All three of the aforementioned Bruins finished in the top 10 individually at the previous tournament, but struggled this weekend at Pasatiempo.
Hwang finished with a score of 221 ( 11) while Widegren shot a 223 ( 13) for the weekend.
UCLA was able to drop Widegren’s score, but needed better performances from both golfers in order to compete with first-place Texas, who posted a score of 1060 ( 10), a tournament-best team score.
UCLA will now turn its attention to the Pac-12 Championship, which is hosted by Oregon State at Trysting Tree Golf Club and starts April 27.
Compiled by Steven Covella, Bruin Sports contributor.
