June 3, 2004
The Arizona State men's golf team had its best round of the tournament with a 3-over 283 but it tied for 21st and missed the 15-team cut after the third round at the 107th annual NCAA Men's Golf Championships held at The Homestead Resort's Cascades Golf Course (par-70, 6,679 yards) in Hot Springs, Va.
ASU finished at 39-over 879 (292-304-283).
UCLA, who won its only national title in 1988, leads the tournament by five strokes at 7-over 847 and is trying to join ASU as the only Pac-10 team to win the NCAA championship in the past 10 years, as ASU won the 1996 title and also won the 1990 title. Other Pac-10 teams to win the NCAA Men's Golf Championship include Stanford (1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953 and 1994), and Arizona (1992).
UCLA also is trying to join ASU as the only school to win both the men's and women's golf championships in the same season, as ASU won both in 1990. UCLA has the opportunity this year as it women's squad won the 2004 title on May 18-22 in Opelika, Ala.
Senior Chez Reavie finished his Sun Devil career with a final round 66 and finished at 7-over 217, while fellow Mesa native Jesse Mueller finished at 10-over 220 as did 2003 NCAA champion Alejandro Canizares. Niklas Lemke finished at 14-over 224 and Mike Derminio finished at 18-over 228.
Fourth-ranked Arizona State was one of six teams in Golfweek's top-25 to not make the cut, as second-ranked and defending NCAA champion Clemson, tenth-ranked TCU, No. 11 USC, No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 15 New Mexico all finished out of the top 15.
Eight other teams in Golfweek's top 25 failed to qualify for the 30-team tournament (No. 12 Minnesota, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 16 UNLV, No. 18 Augusta State, No. 19 Wake Forest, No. 21 Duke, No. 24 Kansas and No. 25 Arkansas).
Ryan Moore of UNLV leads the individual race with a 9-under 201 with Chris Nallen of Arizona two shots back.
ASU has had four NCAA medalists on six occasions, as Sun Devils Jim Carter (1983), Phil Mickelson (1989, 1990, 1992) and Todd Demsey (1993) all won NCAA titles before Alejandro Canizares took home the honor last year in Stillwater. Other Pac-10 individual winners include Frank Tatum Jr. of Stanford (1942), Scott Simpson of USC (1976 and 1977), Ron Commans of USC (1981) and Tiger Woods of Stanford (1996).
The 15 top teams will play a final round on Friday.
ASU Men's Golf--NCAA Championship--Hot Springs, Va.--June 1-4Full 30-team and 156-player results and live stats are available at www.golfstat.com.
1. UCLA 289-283-275=847 (+7)
2. Kentucky 283-286-283=852 (+12)
3. California 279-289-287=855 (+15)
T21. Arizona State 292-304-283=879 (+39)
Individual Leader/ASU Individuals
1. Ryan Moore, UNLV 67-70-64=201 (-9)
2. Chris Nallen, Arizona 69-67-67=203 (-7)
T40. Chez Reavie 75-76-66=217 (+7)
T69. Jesse Mueller 71-75-74=220 (+10)
T69. Alejandro Canizares 70-78-72=220 (+10)
T105. Niklas Lemke 76-76-72=224 (+14)
T136. Mike Derminio 78-77-73=228 (+18)