NCAA Men’s Golf : UCLA, Trailing by 13 Shots, Rallies to Gain First Title

The UCLA men’s golf team, which started the day 13 shots out of the lead in sixth place, huddled tentatively on a slope just off the 18th green Saturday, watching and waiting after it had finished the final round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

But as the top three teams entering the final round--Florida, USC and Oklahoma--putted out, UCLA’s apprehensive expressions turned to those of joy.

The Bruins won their first national golf title with a final-round, 3-over-par 287, which gave them a four-day total of 1,176 and a three-stroke victory.

“We’re a little dumbfounded by it all,” said UCLA Coach Eddie Merrins, who is in his 13th season. “This was a great effort by a great group of kids.”

It was also a surprising effort by a UCLA team that had finished eighth in the Pacific 10 tournament and fell below Merrins’ expectations most of the season.

UCLA’s previous best in the NCAA tournament was in 1982 when the Bruins finished sixth with a team that included Corey Pavin. UCLA is the first West Coast team to win the national title since Stanford in 1953.

Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas El Paso finished tied for second at 1,179. USC, which began the round in second place, shot 315 Saturday and finished 13th (1,194).

“We were where we wanted to be,” USC Coach Randy Lein said. “We just never got it going.”

E.J. Pfister of Oklahoma State shot a final-round 3-under-par 68 to win the individual title with a 72-hole total of 284. Pfister is the third consecutive Oklahoma State player to win the championship, after Scott Verplank and teammate Brian Watts, who finished Saturday in an eight-way tie for 57th at 302.

“It’s a weird thing,” said Pfister, a senior whose only other career win came in this year’s Big Eight championships. “I go three years without winning a tournament, and then I win two in a month.”

UCLA was paced by senior Brandt Jobe, who shot 69 Saturday and finished in a three-way tie for second (287) with Bill McDonald of Georgia Tech and Tom Carr of Tennessee.

UCLA improved its score in each successive round of the tournament. On Saturday, the Bruins avoided the trouble that had plagued them throughout the previous rounds, especially on the back nine of the 6,817-yard course.

“We improved every day and went out and shot the number we really needed in the final round,” said Kevin Leach, a fifth-year senior from Rolling Hills who had consecutive 72s in the final two days. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

Tim Cruikshank, who shot 71 Saturday, and Bobby Lasken, who shot 75, were the other scorers for the Bruins.