Beavs Atop Leaderboard At Pac-10 Championships
April 25, 2002
CORVALLIS, Ore. - -
With its back against the wall, the Oregon State men's golf team came out swinging Thursday at the Pac-10 Championships, knowing that only a win would qualify the team for the NCAA Regional Championships in May.
The Beavers wrapped up the first 36 holes tied for a four-shot lead with USC after shooting 4-under par-716, while OSU's Michael Jurgensen claimed a share of the individual lead at the midway-point with a 6-under 138 at the par-72 Trysting Tree Golf Club.
The Beavers, whose highest finish at Pac-10s came in 2000 when they finished second, placed three golfers in the top 10 after two rounds.
"I think the key for us was we were patient in the afternoon round," OSU coach Brian Watts said. "We talked about it in our team meeting that if the wind came up in the afternoon we needed to stay patient, and they did a good job of that. We knew the wind would pick up.
"We were fortunate to start our day on the (more difficult) back nine and finish on seven, eight and nine. We felt like that was an advantage over the teams finishing on 16-18.
"We wanted to put ourselves in position after the first round to where we felt like we didn't have to shoot low numbers to catch anybody. We followed our game plan today and we'll see what happens over the next 36 holes."
Jurgensen opened his day with a 2-under 70, a score that could have been much lower and given him the outright lead if not for a triple-bogie on hole No. 8. The junior from Horsholm, Denmark battled through strong winds in the afternoon and came back with a second-round 68 to tie Stanford's Jim Seki for the lead.
"Michael played 35 of the 36 holes great today," Watts said. "He made a lot of birdies and had some good up-and-downs. He didn't miss many greens, but when he did he made it up-and-down. He made some great putts when he had to.
Also joining Jurgensen in the top 10 are senior David Yarnes and junior Chance Holmes, both of whom are tied for 10th at even-par 144.
Yarnes, who had a seventh-place finish last weekend at the U.S. Intercollegiate, played consistently from tee-to-green and had several birdie opportunities en route to a 71-73.
Playing in his first post-season tournament of any kind, Holmes carded a 72-72.
"I thought David Yarnes played the best golf of anybody. David and Daren (Greig) had a lot of birdie opportunities, but unfortunately they couldn't find the hole today."
Sophomore Sean Deacon held down third place after a first-round 68, and is among 10 players tied for 16th after a second-round 77 gave him 145 for the day.
In all, OSU individuals had four rounds below par - two by Jurgensen, and one by Yarnes and Deacon.
Todd Deacon, a senior playing in his second Pac-10 Championships, carded a 147 to tie for 28th. Sophomore Daren Greig is tied for 34th after a 149.
Oregon's John Ellis is tied for third heading into Friday's round, shooting 71-69 to get to 4-under and forge a tie with USC's Kevin Stadler and Stanford's Blake Mastalir.
As a team, Oregon shot 738 on the day and is tied with Arizona State and California for seventh.
After the first round, Stanford had a one-shot lead over OSU and two on No. 9-ranked USC after a 6-under 354, as Jim Seki and Blake Mastalir carded a 66 and 67, respectively. A second-round 366 put the Cardinal alone in third place at even-par 720 - 13 shots ahead of fourth-place and No. 22-ranked Arizona.
Teams play 18 holes Friday and Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. OSU tees off from hole-one beginning at 9:36 Friday morning, while Oregon starts on hole-10 at 9:12.
TEAM SCORES (PAR 360/720)
1 Southern California 356 360 716
Oregon State U. 355 361 716
3 Stanford University 354 366 720
4 Arizona, U. of 363 370 733
5 Washington State U. 369 365 734
6 UCLA 362 373 735
7 Arizona State U. 373 365 738
Oregon, U. of 373 365 738
California, U. of 366 372 738
10 Washington, U. of 370 378 748
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (PAR 72/144)
1 Michael Jurgensen Oregon St. 70 68 138
Jim Seki Stanford 66 72 138
3 Kevin Stadler USC 69 71 140
John Ellis Oregon 71 69 140
Blake Mastalir Stanford 67 73 140
6 Philip Rowe Stanford 72 71 143
Ricky Barnes Arizona 70 73 143
Scott Carlyle California 70 73 143
Jeremy Taylor Wash. St. 72 71 143
10 David Yarnes Oregon St. 71 73 144
Chris Nallen Arizona 70 74 144
Peter Tomasulo California 70 74 144
David Oh USC 72 72 144
Chance Holmes Oregon St. 72 72 144
Scott Oxandaboure USC 71 73 144
OREGON STATE SCORES
t1. Michael Jurgensen 70-68-138; t10. David Yarnes 71-73-144; t10. Chance Holmes 72-72-144; t16. Sean Deacon 68-77-145; t28. Todd Deacon 74-73-147; t34. Daren Greig 74-75-149.
