UCLA
Pac-12 Championships
Bruins Close the Gap at Pac-12 Championship
April 30, 2013 | Men's Golf
April 30, 2013
Follow UCLA Athletics on Twitter
UCLA Athletics on Facebook
To the casual eye, the No. 5 UCLA Men's Golf Team ended their second day of hosting the Pac-12 Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club in 2nd place, exactly where they started it. To the attentive observer, however, the race for the conference crown just got a lot more interesting.
The Bruins finished their third round of the tournament with a stellar 354(+4), tied with Arizona State for the best score of the round. But even more importantly, no. 1 ranked California shot a 361(+11), reducing their lead over UCLA by seven strokes. The #1 Golden Bears' total was good enough to tie with Washington State for the second-best score of the round, but UCLA has now significantly closed the gap at the top.
The Pac-12 title now looks to be a two-horse race between the University of California schools: UCLA sits in second with a 54-hole score of 1058(+8), while Cal clings to first at 1056(+6). #4 Washington is a distant third at 1078(+28), a full twenty strokes behind the Bruins. It was a particularly brutal day for the field, as all but four teams finished 15 or more strokes over par. As a result, #8 Stanford dropped to 5th at 1092(+15) after Arizona State's performance slid the Sun Devils up to 4th, at 1084(+34).
The Bruins were excellent across the board, led by junior Anton Arboleda and sophomore Manav Shah at 70(E) apiece. Arboleda moved into a four-way tie for third atop the player leaderboard, and Shah bounced back from his tough second round to move up to 20th individually. Jonathan Garrick continued his good run of solid play, as the freshman shot 71(+1) to move all alone into 2nd place, and Pontus Widegren regained his composure with a 71(+1) as well, now all by himself in 11th. Pedro Figueiredo followed just behind, staying consistent by notching his third consecutive 72(+2) and entering a six-way tie for 14th. Jay Hwang represented the drop score for the Bruins, as he carded a 77(+7) to move into 36th individually.
Not only can the Bruins snatch their sixth conference crown on Wednesday, but Garrick and Arboleda are still in position to challenge for the individual title, sitting five and six strokes short of California's Max Homa, respectively. Even though scores will be posted by the Pac-12 conference at the end of the final round, those looking to follow the action as it happens can do so here on Golfstat, and tee times are listed here. Admission is free for fans wanting to attend.
