GLENDALE “”mdash; Entering the final day of the Men’s Golf
Pac-10 Championship at Oakmont Country Club, the question being
asked around the golf course was not who was going to win, but
rather, how large the margin of victory would be for UCLA.
The answer?
UCLA finished a ridiculous 27 shots ahead of second-place
Arizona and a whopping 36 shots in front of third-place Arizona
State. The Bruins are bringing back their first Pac-10 crown since
1985, finishing the championship at one-under par.
“I’m a bit surprised no one was within 30-something
shots,” UCLA head coach O.D. Vincent said. “Other
coaches said their players were having trouble with these
greens.”
“It means a whole lot,” junior John Poucher said.
“Last year USC won and that was painful. This is what
we’ve been talking about all year.”
UCLA junior John Merrick ran away as the 2003 Pac-10 Individual
Champion, finishing the tournament at 12-under par and capturing
his first career collegiate title. Merrick, who entered the day in
a tie with Stanford’s Jim Seki at three-under par, blistered
Oakmont Country Club for a course record 63.
Merrick finished 10 shots ahead of second-place Seki and is the
first Bruin since Duffy Waldorf in 1985 to win medallist
honors.
“It’s always great to win,” Merrick said.
“But it’s more fun to win with a bunch of guys you hang
out with and are your friends.”Â
Merrick was one of five UCLA juniors to finish in the top-20
individually. Juniors Steve Conway and Travis Johnson tied for
eighth place at two-over par.
“It’s awesome,” said Johnson of bringing the
trophy back home to Westwood. “We had some outside pressure
of protecting the home-turf. It’s nice to see we came out and
played so well.”
Junior Roy Moon finished the championship at three-over par and
in a tie for 12th place. John Poucher rounded out the Bruin juniors
by finishing in 19th place at nine-over par.
“This week was their week,” Arizona senior Ricky
Barnes said. “It was a boring day today. Give it up for
Johnny and UCLA.”
Aside from being a great accomplishment for the Bruin players,
UCLA’s brilliant performance is largely due to humble
first-year head coach Vincent. With the victory, Vincent became the
first man to win the Pac-10 Championship as both a player and a
coach. He won the individual title for Washington in 1988.
“O.D. is a big part of this win,” Merrick said.
“We got off to a great start with his philosophy. When you
win one (tournament), you start thinking you can win
another.”
UCLA now heads to Washington for the NCAA West Regional with a
boatload of extra confidence. They started the season unranked.
They began Pac-10 competition ranked 11th, and will surely be
placed higher when the new poll comes out.
Should other teams now be watching out for UCLA in this
year’s NCAA Championship?
“They better,” Merrick said. “We’re for
real this year.”