University of Minnesota Athletics
MEN'S GOLFERS FINISH FIFTH AT BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
5/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Minnesota was forced to play with just four players for the final two rounds of the tournament after 1998 NCAA Champion and returning All-American James McLean was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury. Each team normally plays five players, with the best four scores counting toward the team total.
Northwestern, who claimed three of the top four golfers individually, successfully defended their team title with a 33-shot runaway win over second place Purdue. The Wildcats posted a team score of eight-over par 1152, with the host Boilermakers checking in at 25-over par 1193. There were three teams grouped within four strokes of each other between third and fifth place, as the Golden Gophers trailed Penn State for third place by four strokes and Ohio State for fourth place by just one shot.
Defending NCAA Champion Luke Donald of Northwestern claimed medalist honors with a four-round total of one- under par 287. Teammate Jess Daley was just one stroke behind at 288, with Lee Williamson of Purdue and Josh Habig of the Wildcats at four-over par 292.
The fifth-place showing marks the eighth time in John Means' 10-year tenure as the Golden Gopher head coach that the program has finished in the upper division of the conference tournament.
The Golden Gophers will be off until participating in the NCAA Central Regional from May 18-20. The teams for all three NCAA regional locations will be announced Monday afternoon.
Big Ten Championships Kampen Course - Purdue University West Lafayette, Ind. Par: 72 Yardage: 6,906 Final Team Results
Team Scores
Northwestern 281-286-303-290--1160
Purdue 296-296-305-296--1193
Penn State 311-291-295-301--1198
Ohio State 297-300-303-301--1201
Minnesota 292-299-305-304--1202
Wisconsin 306-301-303-301--1211
Michigan 292-299-311-311--1213
Michigan State 296-306-300-313--1215
Indiana 299-310-306-308--1223
Iowa 306-310-299-315--1230
Illinois 295-320-307-312--1234
Final Individual Results - Top 10 Player School - Scores Luke Donald Northwestern 72-68-73-74--287 Jess Daley Northwestern 66-70-77-75--288 Lee Williamson Purdue 76-70-75-71--292 Josh Habig Northwestern 70-73-78-71--292 Michael Harris Michigan 70-73-75-75--293 Chris Mayson Purdue 72-73-74-75--294 Matt Abbott Penn State 78-69-78-70--295 Mike Austin Ohio State 72-74-74-75--295 Chris Thayer Northwestern 73-77-75-70--295 Wilhelm Schauman Minnesota 71-76-78-71--296 Golden Gopher Scores Place - Player Score 16 -- Martin LeMesurier 74-77-73-75--299 T 26 -- Ben Meyers 74-80-77-75--306 T 45 -- Dave Gunderson 77-75-79-83--314 James McLean 73-71-WD-WD
