University of Oregon
Pasatiempo Golf Club
Wise Leads Ducks to Third-Place Finish at Western Intercollegiate
04/13/16 | Men's Golf
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Sophomore Aaron Wise finished second while the Oregon men's golf team finished third at the Western Intercollegiate on Wednesday.
How It Happened: The Ducks carded a final-round 364 to finish third at the Western Intercollegiate , played at the par-70, 6,615-yard Pasatiempo Golf Club. No. 9 Stanford took home the team title at 9-under overall, followed by second-place and top-ranked USC at 1-over.
Paired together, Aaron Wise and Stanford standout Maverick McNealy battled atop the leaderboard for much of the day. Heading into the final round with a one-shot lead, Wise was able to increase his cushion, if just for a moment, with an eagle on the par-5 sixth hole, but McNealy responded with an eagle of his own on the par-5 ninth to take a one-stroke lead over Wise headed into the turn.
After Wise bogeyed the 10th, McNealy was able to extend his lead to three strokes with birdies on the 10th and 12th; however, Wise would cut that advantage down to just a stroke with consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th to get to 14-under.
McNealy added a birdie on the par-4 16th, but Wise was unable to answer, finishing up with a final-round 67 to wrap up what was an impressive week for the sophomore. Wise finished at 14-under, 11 strokes ahead of third-place Corey Pereira.
Senior Zach Foushee turned in a solid final-round card with a 68 to finish in a tie for 12th. Sitting at 1-over for the round through 10 holes, the senior ran off four straight birdies to get himself back under par and vault his name up the leaderboard. Foushee followed up a first-round 69 and a second-round 73 to finish with an even-par 210.
Competing as an individual, senior Brandon McIver recorded his second top-25 finish this season, finishing tied for 25th at 4-over after a 5-over 75 on Wednesday after recording a season-low 66 in Tuesday's second round.
After turning in a pair of 70's in his first two rounds and getting to the turn at even par on Wednesday, Edwin Yi struggled on the back nine with two doubles on the 10th and 11th, and a triple on the par-3 18th to finish tied for 28th at 6-over for the week.
Nigel Lett turned in a 78 for his final round Wednesday to finish with a 9-over 69-72-78 card. Junior Sulman Raza matched Lett's 78 to wrap up his week at 11-over with a 70-73-78 card. Lett and Raza finished tied for 42nd and 49th, respectively.
Junior Thomas Lim finished tied for 56th with a 12-over 222 after a final-round 75 on Wednesday.
Quotable – Head Coach Casey Martin - “Aaron (Wise) is just playing at such a high level. He and (Maverick McNealy) are two of the best amateurs in the world, and they played like it. They lapped the field today. They had a great battle, and (McNealy) beat him out a little bit with some good fortune on a few holes coming down the stretch. Aaron played amazing again. Our whole team battled. We had a tough finish today. The guys did well, and we beat a lot of great teams. We're starting to round into form.”
“We've got guys that are all doing good things. Brandon (McIver) had a nice round yesterday, Edwin (Yi) had a couple of good rounds and (Zach Foushee) had a couple of good rounds. We're getting some good scores. We're not all the way there yet, but we're showing signs of good things.”
Notable: Both Wise (196) and McNealy (194) bested the previous 54-hole tournament record of 199 … The second-place finish marked Wise's sixth top-three finish in 10 appearances this season … The event marked the Ducks' sixth top-five finish this season and fourth top-three finish ... Earlier on Wednesday, Wise was one of 10 golfers named semifinalists for the Ben Hogan Award, which is given to the nation's top collegiate golfer each season.
Up Next: The Ducks will head to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the Pac-12 Championship, set for April 29-May 1 at the Country Club of Salt Lake.
Players Mentioned
