Northwestern University Athletics
Luke Donald Wins NCAA Men's Golf Championship
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 5, 1999
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern sophomore Luke Donald (High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England) fired a final-round 71 to win the NCAA Men's Golf Championships on Saturday at Hazeltine National Golf Course in Chaska, Minn. Donald finished the 72-hole tournament at 4-under-par 284, three strokes ahead of Georgia's Ryuji Imada and Washington's Troy Kelly.
As a team, Northwestern fired a final round score of 296 to finish in third place with a total of 1,188, 10 strokes behind team champion Georgia. NU was the only school at this year's NCAA Championship to post sub-300 team scores in all four rounds.
"I started out consistently hitting greens," said Donald. "I was hitting good, solid shots. The pins were really tucked away. I hit the center of the greens and made a lot of two-putts. Imada caught me after a long birdie putt on 13. I wanted to get some breathing space and I was able to do that."
Donald is Northwestern's first-ever NCAA men's golf champion. NU's previous top individual finish was Manuel de la Torre, who was national runner-up in 1942. Donald is the 47th Wildcat, in any sport, to ever win an NCAA individual championship. NU's most recent NCAA individual champion was Jack Griffin, who captured the 118-pound wrestling title in 1990. The Wildcats' third place team showing is their second-best NCAA finish in program history. Northwestern was national runner-up in 1942.
"I'm very proud of Luke," said Northwestern head coach Pat Goss. "When he made the turn tied for the lead, it was gut-check time. We knew he had that type of ability. This is truly a culmination of what he's worked all year to achieve. I'm also proud of what our team accomplished. This is the second time in the last three years that we've played in the final group on the last day of the NCAA Championships. It says a lot about our program and where we're headed."
Donald, who also led the tournament after rounds two and three, opened the day with a three-stroke lead. He had to withstand a furious charge by Imada, who would post a 5-under-par 67 this afternoon.
After shooting 2-over on the front nine, Donald was tied with Imada and Kelly at one-under-par for the tournament. A birdie on 11 pushed Donald back into the lead at 2-under, but Imada answered with a birdie at 13 to pull even. Donald used birdies on the par 4, 335-yard 14th hole and the par 4, 390-yard 15th hole to clinch the national championship. Also of note, Donald hit 17 of 18 greens in the final round.
For the year, Donald captured five individual tournament titles, the most in the NCAA. Donald's final season stroke average of 70.45 breaks his own school record of 72.19, set last year as a freshman. Thirty-one of his 40 competitive rounds this year were played at-or-below par.
Also for the Wildcats, senior Erik Ciotti (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) fired an even-par 72 on Saturday to conclude his collegiate career in a tie for 16th place at 11-over-par 299. Junior Jess Daley (Kent, Wash./Kentwood) tied for 34th place at 13-over-par 301.
Complete team results and the Wildcats' final individual totals from the NCAA Championships appear below.
Final Team Standings (listed with tournament seed) 1. #2 Georgia 292-305-290-293=1180 2. #6 Oklahoma State 289-308-285-301=1183 3. #12 Northwestern 296-299-297-296=1188 4. #19 Washington 307-301-291-290=1189 5. #4 Arizona State 297-307-296-292=1192 6. #1 UNLV 295-298-306-296=1195 7. #11 BYU 293-298-302-303=1196 8. #9 Clemson 293-297-303-306=1199 #7 Houston 297-305-297-300=1199 10. #16 North Carolina 294-307-298-302=1201 11. #5 Minnesota 303-305-303-297=1208 12. #10 Florida 297-311-298-310=1216 13. #14 E. Tenn. St. 298-306-317-296=1217 14 #13 Nebraska 301-305-304-308=1218 15. #27 Illinois 303-305-304-307=1219 Final Northwestern Individual Results 1 Luke Donald 73-68-72-71=284 (-4) T-16 Erik Ciotti 75-78-74-72=299 (+11) T-34 Jess Daley 75-76-75-75=301 (+13) T-51 Josh Habig 73-77-76-79=305 (+17) 78 David Shaffer 79-82-81-78=320 (+32)
