Nov. 2, 2004
LA QUINTA, Calif. – Notre Dame sophomore Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) had a two-stroke lead midway through Tuesday’s final round of The Prestige at PGA WEST, but came up just a bit short, finishing second at the final tournament of the fall season for the Irish. Isban wound up carding a 54-hole score of three-over par 219 (72-74-73), placing two shots behind medalist Erik Hill of UC Davis at the two-day event, which was held in La Quinta, Calif., at the par-72, 7,156-yard Greg Norman Course at the famed PGA WEST complex. Isban’s second-place finish was the best of his career, surpassing the tie for third place he registered at last year’s BIG EAST Conference Championship, and it was the third top-five finish of his young career.
In the team standings, Notre Dame jumped two spots during Tuesday’s final round, winding up tied for 10th place with Oregon at 70-over par 934 (311-322-301). The Irish actually were on pace to shoot the low round of the day, sitting at one-over par through 13 holes, but some late black marks on the scorecard halted their charge. No. 16 UCLA successfully defended its tournament title, winning by nine strokes over co-host UC Davis.
Freshman Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s) and junior Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) both tied for 49th place with matching scores of 23-over par 239. Rodgers tallied rounds of 79, 83 and 77, while Deutsch bounced back from two tough rounds on Monday (84 and 82) with a final-round 73, highlighted by an eagle at No. 11, the second eagle by an Irish player in the tournament.
Junior Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) ended the tournament in a 57th-place tie at 26-over par 242 (81-83-78), while freshman Mike King (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney) completed the Notre Dame scoring with a tie for 61st place at 27-over par 243 (79-84-80).
The Irish will be off until the start of the spring season in early 2005. Currently, the Notre Dame spring schedule has not yet been approved — the finalized docket will be released at a later date.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. UCLA 904 (302-308-294); 2. UC Davis 913 (306-303-304); 3. (tie) UC Irvine 917 (305-307-305) and Texas Tech 917 (311-311-295); 5. Oklahoma 922 (315-308-299); 6. Stanford 924 (313-315-296); 7. (tie) Kansas 925 (313-305-307) and TCU 925 (315-306-304); 9. BYU 931 (315-314-302); 10. (tie) NOTRE DAME 934 (311-322-301) and Oregon 934 (312-314-308); 12. Pepperdine 935 (314-313-308); 13. Colorado 943 (318-318-307); 14. Pacific 950 (317-319-314); 15. Northern Colorado 957 (320-335-302); 16. Yale 983 (336-329-318).
INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS (top four plus Notre Dame finishers out of 84): 1. Erik Hill (UC Davis) 217 (71-77-69); 2. Cole Isban (Notre Dame) 219 (72-74-73); 3. Shaun Melville (Texas Tech) 220 (73-77-70); 4. Brian Edick (UC Irvine) 222 (73-76-73); 49. (tie) Greg Rodgers (Notre Dame) 239 (79-83-77) and Eric Deutsch (Notre Dame) 239 (84-82-73); 57. (tie) Scott Gustafson (Notre Dame) 242 (81-83-78); 61. (tie) Mike King (Notre Dame) 243 (79-84-80).
— ND —