Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Gifford Intercollegiate
Birdie-Birdie Finish Gives Freshman Dylan Wu First College Win
11/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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Gifford Collegiate Championship CordeValle • San Martin, Calif. • NU's Place: 5th/10 teams Golfstat.com Live Scores • Final Results  |
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SAN MARTIN, Calif. -- Freshman Dylan Wu (Medford, Ore./St. Mary's School) used a birdie-birdie finish Wednesday in the final round of the Gifford Collegiate to capture his first-career collegiate victory in dramatic fashion at CordeValle.
Wu entered the final round paired with 36-hole leader Jake Knapp of UCLA. Knapp had a slim one shot overnight lead that quickly became four strokes thanks to a pair of front-nine eagles for the Bruin.
Wu's charge began at No. 12 with the first of three-straight birdies while Knapp suddenly hit the skids with two bogeys in that stretch to shoot Wu into the lead by a shot. Disaster struck the Northwestern rookie at No. 15, however, when his approach plugged under the lip of a bunker and led to a double bogey. Knapp birdied 16 to re-establish a comfortable two-stroke margin.
At the 478-yard par 4 17th, Wu drained a six-footer for birdie to make his deficit just one shot. At the last, both competitors found trouble off the tee at the reachable par-5, with Wu's drive staying just up out of a hazard while Knapp's went in. This led to Knapp hitting a 119-yard wedge to six feet for a look at par while Wu hit from 102 yards to four feet for birdie and a chance to tie.
That chance for a tie became a winning fist pump. Knapp lipped his putt out and Wu jarred his to claim the first win of his college career. Wu's final-round 4-under 67 gave him a 54-hole total of 9-under 204 (69-68-67).
Wu is the first freshman Wildcat to win a tournament since now professional Matt Fitzpatrick did so last fall at the Rod Myers Intercollegiate, but prior to that the last Wildcats' newcomer to win an event was Eric Chun at the 2009 Big Ten Championship. NU has had at least one individual medalist in each of the last eight years.
"What a finish!" Director of Golf and Player Development Pat Goss tweeted. "Wu showed some guts after his double."
Wu's debut win comes in a tournament featuring seven of the nation's top-40 programs and 10 of the country's top-62 players according to current Golfstat.com rankings.
Northwestern entered the final round of the 10-team event in third place as a squad but fell two spots after both No. 16 Stanford and No. 4 Texas blazed the course with the best rounds of the day. The Wildcats also endured a tough team stretch on the back nine that left every other member of the lineup over par for the day, giving NU a fifth-place finish among a strong field that could have been even more special.
"Poor drives on 18 and mistakes on 15," Goss tweeted. "45+ good holes got wiped away pretty quickly."
Still, NU's final round 3-over 358 gave it a 54-hole total of 6-over 1,071 (360-353-358) that put it two strokes behind No. 4 Texas and five shots in back of third-place No. 16 Stanford. No. 8 UCLA won the event followed by No. 18 USC. Northwestern had huge separation over three ranked squads in the field, earning a 15-stroke margin of victory over sixth-place No. 22 South Florida. NU also defeated No. 34 SMU and No. 38 Colorado.
The Gifford Collegiate is a 6 count 5 event that tests the depth of a team's roster much more severely than a typical collegiate 5 count 4 tournament. Traditionally a tough event for the Wildcats, the team stepped up this year with a good showing to conclude their fall season.
Senior Scott Smith (Pepper Pike, Ohio/University School) replicated his red-hot front nine from Tuesday's second-round with a three-birdie 3-under 33 going out Wednesday. He gave two strokes back but still was under par entering the 18th, one of his final holes in the shotgun start, where an errant drive led to a double bogey and a 1-over 72. Smith finished in 42nd place at 8-over 221 (78-71-72) in a nice bounce back after a rough first round.
Junior Josh Jamieson (St. Andrews, Scotland/High School of Dundee) was one of three Wildcats to card 2-over 73 totals Wednesday. He turned at even-par and got to red numbers with a birdie at No. 12, but a stretch of four bogeys in five holes on the back nine left him at 73 for the day and 3-over 216 (71-72-73) for the tournament, good for 21st place.
Senior Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) also ended up 21st with the exact same scoring as Jamieson, carding a 2-over 73 Wednesday for a 3-over 216 (71-72-73) in the tournament. Lavin was the lone Wildcat to avoid a double bogey in the final round, making four bogeys against two birdies.
Freshman Charles Wang (Beijing, China/Sarasota Christian School) had a volatile four-birdie final round that saw him at even par toward the end of his round where a mistake off the tee at No. 18 led to a double bogey and a 2-over 73. He ended up 34th in the field at 6-over 219 (75-71-73).
Senior Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont) rounded of NU's team lineup in the final round with a 3-over 74. He chipped in for birdie at the 230-yard par-3 12th hole to conclude a stretch of double bogey-par-birdie-double bogey-birdie-par-birdie to get to 1-over on the day, but three-straight bogeys immediately after left him at 74. Negri finished 34 overall with Wang at 6-over 219 (74-71-74)
Competing as an individual, freshman Sam Triplett (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep) fired a final round 5-over 76 to finish 51st in the field at 10-over 223 (74-73-76).
Northwestern now is off until the beginning of the spring season in February.
Northwestern -- 5th/10 • 360-353-358=1,071 (+6)
1 -- Dylan Wu -- 69-68-67=204 (-9)
T21 -- Josh Jamieson -- 71-72-73=216 (+3)
T21 -- Bennett Lavin -- 71-72-73=216 (+3)
T34 -- Matthew Negri -- 74-71-74=219 (+6)
T34 -- Charles Wang -- 75-71-73=219 (+6)
T45 -- Scott Smith -- 78-71-72=221 (+8)
T51 - Sam Triplett -- 74-73-76=223 (+10)
Players in italics are competing as individuals
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