April 26, 2005
WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Arizona State moved into the lead at the Pacific-10 Conference Men's Golf Championships Tuesday after the third round of play at the par 71, 6,606-yard Walla Walla Country Club behind the continued stellar play of senior Pat Moore and four other players shooting par or better.
Arizona State jumped past second round leader UCLA after posting the lowest single-round team score of the tournament, a 6-under 349. The Sun Devils are ahead of UCLA by three strokes with a team score of 1,058 (-7).
ASU counted scores of 68 from Niklas Lemke, 69 from Moore, 70 from Kendall Critchfield and 71 from both Jesse Mueller and Alejandro Canizares.
Moore is in first place by four strokes with a score of 10-under 203 (67-67-69). The Phoenix native and Washington High School graduate won last week at the U.S. Intercollegiate and has held the lead at the Pac-10 Championships since holing a wedge during the second round from 65 yards on the par-4, 14th hole. The eagle propelled Moore into the lead and he has yet to relinquish it since.
"I finally broke through and won last week," said Moore. "I'm just really relaxed now and I've finally proved to myself I can win. I've played pretty solid this week, so hopefully I can do it again tomorrow."
Moore is trying to become the first Sun Devil to win a Pac-10 title since Paul Casey won his third straight in 2000. Scott Johnson (1997) also won a Pac-10 title under current head coach Randy Lein. Before that it was Phil Mickelson in 1990.
The Sun Devils are looking to win their first Pac-10 team championship since 2000, when they won their record sixth consecutive team title. They have won seven total Pac-10 titles under Randy Lein and 11 in their 26 Pac-10 seaosons (1995-2000, 1993, 1990, 1989, 1981 and 1979).
"I would like to start another streak, and you can't start another streak without winning one," said Arizona State Head Coach Randy Lein, a seven-time winner of the Pac-10 Coach of the Year at ASU. "That's what we're after."
ASU's team effort is reflected the individual scoreboard, as four Sun Devils are in the top 14. In addition to Moore leading the field, Alejandro Canizares is tied for eighth at 2-under 211 (71-69-71) while Niklas Lemke and Jesse Mueller are both tied for 14th at 1-over 214.
Charly Simon is at 7-over 220 and is tied for 40th while Kendall Critchfield is tied for 43rd at 8-over 221, but he shot a 1-under 70 Tuesday afternoon.
The Bruins are the only other team under par, posting a three-round team score of 1,061 (-4). UCLA, the two-time defending NCAA West Regional Champions, are led by the play of freshman Kevin Chappell. Chappell is currently tied for fourth with a three-round total of 208 (-5).
The event concludes Wednesday with 18 holes and ASU will tee with UCLA beginning at 9:36 a.m. Pat Moore will be in the final group at 10:16 a.m.
Pacific-10 Conference Championships April 25-27, 2005 Walla Walla Country Club; Walla Walla, Wash. Par 71, 6,606 yards Results After Rounds 3 of 4Team Results: 1. Arizona State (351-358-349--1058, -7) 2. UCLA (352-355-354--1061, -4) 3. Stanford (363-359-351--1073, +8) 4. Arizona (356-366-352--1074, +9) 5. Washington (371-353-351--1075, +10) 6. Oregon (369-357-355--1081, +16) T7. California (353-361-368--1082, +17) T7. Southern California (362-352-368--1082, +17) 9. Washington State (359-358-366--1083, +18) 10. Oregon State (363-366-362--1091, +26).
Sun Devils/Best Scores 1. Pat Moore, Arizona State (67-67-69--203, -10) T2. Rob Grube, Stanford (69-72-66--207, -6) T2. Erik Olson, Washington (70-69-68--207, -6) T8. Alejandro Canizares, Arizona State (71-69-71--211, -2) T14. Niklas Lemke, Arizona State (73-73-68-214, +1) T14. Jesse Mueller, Arizona State (70-73-71-214, +1) T40. Charly Simon, Arizona State (72-76-72-220, +7) T43. Kendall Critchfield, Arizona State (71-80-70=221, +8)