Oct. 17, 2006
Final Results from The Prestige at PGA WEST in PDF Format
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LA QUINTA, Calif. – Getting strong performances from the top half of its lineup, the Notre Dame men’s golf team rose one spot to finish seventh in the 15-team Prestige at PGA WEST, which concluded Tuesday afternoon in La Quinta, Calif., on the Greg Norman Course (par 72/7,156 yards) at the famed PGA WEST facility. The Irish carded a season-low 282 (-6) in Tuesday’s final round, finishing the 54-hole event at 15-over par 879 (302-295-282), 30 shots behind tournament co-host and ninth-ranked Stanford. The third-round 282 matched Notre Dame’s sixth-best 18-hole team score ever, and it was the best for the Irish since they closed with a school-record 272 (-16) at the 2006 BIG EAST Championship last April.
At No. 45, Notre Dame was one of nine teams in the field at The Prestige that appeared in the top 50 of the latest Golfweek rankings that were released on Monday. However, the Irish didn’t rest on their collective laurels, defeating the next three teams in the tournament that were ranked ahead of them — No. 34 California (11th place, 16 shots behind Notre Dame), No. 43 Illinois (10th place, 14 shots) and No. 44 Colorado (ninth place, five shots). The Irish just missed reeling in two even bigger fish at The Prestige, ending up two shots back of both No. 1 USC and 27th-ranked Kansas, who tied for fifth place at 877 (+13).
Sophomore Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) completed arguably the best tournament effort of his budding college career, firing a personal-best 67 (-5) in the final round and ending up tied for 10th place in the 78-man field with a three-round total of three-under par 213 (76-70-67), also a career-low. Sandman now has placed 20th or better in five of his eight college events thus far, with Tuesday’s outing the second top-10 finish of his career — he wound up six shots behind tournament medalist Zack Miller of Stanford.
Senior All-America candidate Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) has been rock solid in his play all season long, and this week was no exception, as the Irish veteran finished in 14th place at one-under par 215 (71-73-71), marking his third consecutive top-20 finish and seventh in his last 11 tournaments. Like Sandman, senior co-captain Adam Gifford (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) turned in a career-best scorecard at The Prestige, placing 25th with a personal-low score of four-over par 220 (76-74-70). Gifford’s 25th-place outing was his best tournament finish ever as a member of the Irish starting five, as was his closing-round 70 (-2), which also was the first under-par round of his career.
Rounding out the Notre Dame lineup this week were freshman Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill), who ended the tournament tied for 61st place at 16-over par 232 (79-79-74), and junior Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s School), who finished in 69th place at 21-over par 237 (84-78-75).
The Irish now will take a three-week break before resuming their three-tournament Western swing on Nov. 6-7 at the CordeValle Collegiate, hosted by UCLA at the CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif.
— ND —
The Prestige at PGA WEST
Oct. 16-17, 2006 — La Quinta, Calif.
PGA WEST/Greg Norman Course (par 72/7,156 yards)
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Stanford 849 (288-281-280); 2. UCLA 851 (294-276-281); 3. UC Irvine 859 (288-286-285); 4. Minnesota 870 (288-292-290); 5. (tie) USC 877 (294-303-280) and Kansas 877 (301-294-282); 7. NOTRE DAME 879 (302-295-282); 8. UC Davis 880 (296-292-292); 9. Colorado 884 (297-298-289); 10. Illinois 893 (304-297-292); 11. California 895 (298-299-298); 12. Northern Colorado 900 (293-305-302); 13. Oregon 902 (302-305-295); 14. San Diego 910 (300-299-311); 15. Princeton 934 (317-301-316).
TOP SIX INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME FINISHERS (of 78): 1. Zack Miller (Stanford) 207 (71-67-69); 2. (tie) Jay Choe (UC Irvine) 210 (70-67-73) and Lucas Lee (UCLA) 210 (74-67-69); 4. (tie) Tyler Docking (Kansas) 211 (75-69-67), Ben Pisani (Minnesota) 211 (70-70-71) and Gary Woodland (Kansas) 211 (69-72-70); 10. (tie) Josh Sandman (Notre Dame) 213 (76-70-67); 14. Cole Isban (Notre Dame) 215 (71-73-71); 25. Adam Gifford (Notre Dame) 220 (76-74-70); 61. (tie) Doug Fortner (Notre Dame) 232 (79-79-74); 69. Greg Rodgers (Notre Dame) 237 (84-78-75).