The fifth-ranked UCLA men’s golf team’s biggest move
up the leaderboard Wednesday in the second round of the NCAA
Championships came well after senior Travis Johnson putted out for
par on the 18th hole.
In fact, the move came when the team was eating lunch.
Having teed off just after the sun peeked over the horizon of
the hilly Cascades Course on the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs,
Va., the Bruins went about their business early and quietly.
Their collective 3-over par team total in the second round
Wednesday morning may not have been an awe-inspiring performance,
but the Bruins’ total was more than enough to keep them in
contention heading into the final 36 holes.
UCLA, at 12-over par for the tournament thus far, is tied for
sixth entering Thursday’s third round, four shots back of No.
20 California.
With its round over relatively early, by 9:30 a.m. Pacific time,
UCLA was afforded the luxury of watching the leaders come back
toward the rest of the field.
And come back they did, in a hurry.
Tied for 12th place entering the round and dropping as low as
15th place during a stretch on the front nine, the Bruins watched
and waited as they quickly ascended the leaderboard long after they
put in their 18 holes of work.
While the field was fairly spread out after the first round,
only nine shots separate the top-14 teams after Wednesday, which
with two rounds remaining, is anything but a significant
deficit.
“It’s going to be a big clump of teams until the
end,” UCLA coach O.D. Vincent said.
Despite getting off to another lackluster start in which Johnson
was the lone Bruin under-par after nine holes, UCLA righted its
ship on the back nine, playing fairly well on a stretch of holes
that gave them fits the day before.
Johnson, the Bruin leader in spirit and score, has made true on
his promise to save his best golf for this time of year. The senior
fired a 2-under par 68 Wednesday and is 3-under par after two
rounds and tied for fourth place, one shot behind a trio of golfers
at 4-under.
Senior Roy Moon, the next closest Bruin to Johnson on the
individual leaderboard, is at 5-over par for the championship and
tied for 50th place.
Senior Steve Conway and junior John Poucher both rebounded from
tough opening rounds to post 70 and 71 respectively on the par-70
course.
With the theme coming into the championship that any team could
catch fire and come away victorious, a glance at the leaderboard
reflects that sentiment accordingly.
Of the six teams tied or ahead of UCLA, No. 17 Kentucky,
currently in second place, is the highest ranked. Along with
Kentucky, the four other teams near the top of the leaderboard, No.
20 Cal, No. 22 BYU, No. 23 Washington, No. 26 Pepperdine, and No.
31 Georgia State, have all but cemented golf rankings as
useless.
“In golf, one seed doesn’t mean anything, senior Roy
Moon said before the tournament. “There are 10 teams that can
win the national title. Any team can make a run.”