Who needs home course advantage anyway? Apparently, collegiate
golf teams do.
Before the Pac-10 Championship commenced in Tucson, Ariz., at
The Gallery at Dove Mountain on Monday, UCLA coach O.D. Vincent
proclaimed No. 5 Arizona State and No. 8 Arizona as the
frontrunners to take home the conference championship.
Well then it shouldn’t be to the coach’s surprise
that the two desert schools sit atop the leaderboard at even-par
after 36 holes. Both teams share a 12-shot cushion over the
third-place UCLA going into today’s third round.
While the Wildcats and Sun Devils used their local course
knowledge to maneuver their way through The Gallery with relative
ease, the No. 3 Bruins stumbled out of the corral.
The Bruins amassed an 11-over par total after Monday’s
morning round, leaving them staring up at a double digit deficit
and searching for answers.
Whatever they had for lunch seemed to solve the question.
UCLA’s players buried whatever memories they had of their
first round and came back with a vengeance in the second, torching
The Gallery for a collective 1-over par total, the lowest of the
afternoon rounds.
Second-round play was called due to darkness with Bruin seniors
Travis Johnson, Steve Conway and John Merrick still on the course
with a few holes to play. They will finish out their remaining
holes at 7 a.m. today.
With the scoring tear Johnson was on, he probably wishes he
could have completed his round in the dark. The senior lit up The
Gallery for six consecutive birdies in the afternoon and is 5-under
par thru 16 holes of his second round. Johnson is alone in sixth
place with a 3-under par total, six shots behind Washington’s
Brock MacKenzie going into the third round.
Conway provided theatrics of his own in the second round,
carding eagles at the par-5 6th hole and the par-5 11th hole en
route to shooting 2-under par thru 16 holes. Conway resides in a
tie for seventh place at 1-under par entering Tuesday.
Junior John Poucher was the only other Bruin to post a number in
red figures Monday afternoon. Poucher carded three consecutive
birdies in the second round on his way to shooting a 1-under par
71, landing him in a tie for ninth place.
Seniors John Merrick (8-over par) and Roy Moon (10-over par) are
tied for 33rd and 40th place, respectively.