Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic
Dogs Jump Into Sixth, Sunker Carded 66
3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
March 8, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - Even though the Fresno State Lexus Classic team champion, San Diego State, cruised to the winner's circle, it came to down to a thrilling sudden death playoff to determine the individual title. Eventually Alex Johnson of Pacific sank a 30-foot birdie putt on the fifth playoff hole to take home the crown.
Team Leaders and Top 20 Players 
Fresno State started the day tied for tenth but a remarkable finish by Brian Sunker and a solid all-around performance by Bhavik Patel helped propel the Bulldogs to a sixth place tie with last year's champion, BYU, and New Mexico at 43-over. The Dogs (379-381-363--1123) finished the day with a 363, the second best score of the final round and only one shot away from San Diego State, the tournament champ.
"I was really proud of the guys for digging deep and coming back today with the second best score of the final round," head coach Mike Watney said of his players.
The Bulldogs shot out to a fast start on the back nine as Sunker, Patel and Bryan Hogan all made the turn under-par. Scores however began to rise on the first half of the front nine but fortunately momentum shifted back the Dogs' way.
Sunker fired in three birdies on the final five holes, highlighted by a 30-foot putt on the sixth green. All of that was trumped however by an incredible chip for eagle on his final hole of the tournament. Sunker's ball was positioned ten yards off the green in a difficult position with a tough hole placement but he hit the ball just right to where it found the bottom of the cup.
"Your odds of even getting up and down in that position are less than ten percent," Coach Watney commented. "I predicted a big round from Brian Sunker. I knew he would shoot well out of sheer determination after having a tough first day."
Sunker (78-79-66--223) carded a tournament low 66, tied only with the individual champion Alex Johnson of Pacific, and ended up tied for 27th, a 46 spot jump from the previous day.
"A 66 at Sunnyside is difficult anytime in these conditions," Watney added.
Hogan provided some theatrics himself when he came up inches short of a hole-in-one on the 133-yard, par-3 sixth hole. He eventually tapped in for birdie and finished the tournament with another on the ninth. Hogan (75-76-75--226) finished tied for 41st at 10-over.
Patel (73-72-72--217), a junior from Bakersfield, Calif., turned in another strong outing by shooting an even-par, 72, putting him in a tie for tenth. Patel was able to sink a birdie putt on the 548-yard, par-5 ninth, his third of the tournament on that hole.
Senior Michael Gideon (78-77-74--229) recorded his best score of the tournament with a 2-over, 74. He was bogey-free on the front nine and nearly sunk an eagle on 18 but tapped in for birdie. Freshman Nate Jessup (75-77-78--230) and senior Brad Wyatt (79-80-76--235) finished at 14 and 19-over, respectively.
San Diego State (366-355-362--1083), No. 7 in the nation, came into the day with a 17 shot advantage and was able to increase it to 26 after a performance of 2-over on the final round. Pacific (375-366-368--1109, +29) was able to hold off No. 19 Duke (377-361-372--1110, +30) with UC Irvine (374-365-377--1116, +36) and UC Santa Barbara (370-381-369--1120, +40) rounding out the top five.
"San Diego State is the real deal and has a good shot at a national championship this year. If it wasn't for them we would have had a thrilling finish," Coach Watney said jokingly.
As mentioned earlier, Alex Johnson (71-66-73--210) claimed the individual title after shooting a 6-under for the tournament. Bryan Harris (70-69-71--210), also with a 6-under, came in second and J.J. Spaun (71-68-73--212) of SDSU slid into third place with a 4-under.
The wind was able to die down Tuesday which provided great conditions for golf at Sunnyside Country Club. The overwhelming consensus of the visiting coaches was the course was in magnificent shape and a marvelous venue to hold the tournament.
The Bulldogs will return to action March 14-15 in San Diego for the USD/SDSU Invitational held at San Diego Country Club.
"I saw a little spark today which gets me excited about our tournament next week in San Diego," Watney remarked.
"We Are Your Team!" The Fresno State men's golf team heads down to "America's Finest City" March 14-15 to compete in the USD/SDSU Invitational at San Diego Country Club.
Players Mentioned
