UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio -- In a season of extraordinary lows
and highs, the Minnesota golf program -- targeted for elimination
just two months earlier -- won its first national championship.
``We believe in destiny,'' said unlikely hero Matt Anderson, a
walk-on who wasn't even allowed to try out for the team two years
ago because there wasn't a spot available. Playing his first season
of intercollegiate golf as a senior, he shot a 5-under-par 66 Saturday in the most important round of his life.
The Gophers, who received a reprieve when boosters raised enough
money to reinstate the program for at least a year, shot a
6-under-par 278 on Saturday for a 1,134 total and a four-stroke
victory over top-ranked Georgia Tech.
It reached the point where the players were looking around for
other schools with golf programs -- and other programs were raiding
the Minnesota team for players.
``What an awesome story,'' said Clemson coach Larry Penley,
whose second-ranked team tied for third, eight shots back.
``That's a lot of motivation, playing to keep your program. They
go from the threat of losing it -- players talking about
transferring, trying to find places to play for the rest of their
collegiate career -- and now they're national champions.''
Tech's Troy Matteson won the individual title, shooting a
4-under 67 to finish at 8-under 276, one stroke better than Texas
Christian's Adam Rubinson. Oklahoma State's Hunter Mahan was third,
and third-round leader Graeme McDowell of Alabama-Birmingham and Minnesota's
Justin Smith tied for fourth at 5-under 279.
Matteson became the first NCAA individual champion for the
Yellow Jackets, who count Bobby Jones, David Duval, Stewart Cink,
Bryce Molder and Matt Kuchar among their golfing alumni.
``This is amazing for me,'' said Matteson, whose 67 followed
rounds of 73, 66 and 70. ``When I got here, I wanted to play solid.
When you play solid, sometimes you end up on top and sometimes you
don't. It's a tremendous honor to be held in the same esteem as
those guys.''
Minnesota, ranked no higher than 18th in the national polls,
became the first northern school to win the national championship
since Ohio State -- the host the tournament this year at its
Scarlet Course -- won the 1979 title behind current pro John Cook.
``We proved we can play with the southern teams,'' Anderson
said. ``We got them on a northern course. We felt at home here.''
Had the field of 30 teams been cut in half through 36 holes, as
was discussed because of weather problems, the Golden Gophers would
not have even been around the last two days. They were tied for
16th through two rounds.
The school's administration, in an attempt to cut its budget
while drawing closer to gender-equity guidelines, recommended on
April 11 that it would pare the men's and women's golf teams and
the men's gymnastics team to help erase a projected $21 million
deficit in the athletic department. A public uproar followed. The
administration relented, with a grass-roots drive by alumni, fans
and parents raising $900,000 by the end of June to keep the sports
alive for another year.
The Gophers jumped into contention by mastering inclement
weather in the third round, posting a 1-under 283 -- the only subpar
score of the round -- to climb from a tie for 16th to a tie for
fourth place heading into the final round. The Gophers said they
relished the wind gusting up to 50 mph, rain, hail and humid
conditions that alternated throughout the day.
Under ideal conditions Saturday, they blitzed the field.
Smith had a 69, Wilhelm Schauman a 71, David Morgan a 72 -- and
No. 1 man Simon Nash's 74 wasn't even counted.
``I never would have imagined that the day would ever come that
they would threaten to cut our program,'' said Smith, the only
player in the field who didn't have a round over par.
``We all used it as motivation. That, along with personal goals.
Everything just took care of itself. We just played amazing golf
for the past two or three weeks.''
The national championship was the Golden Gophers' first in golf.
Their best previous finish was second in 1944; their best finish
since then was a seventh in 1998.
The Golden Gophers, who won the Big Ten title, hadn't won the
conference crown since 1972.
``This team's got a bigger heart than any team I've ever been
with,'' said interim head coach Brad James, who took over the team
in September after the previous coach resigned amid allegations of
misuse of university funds.
All five starters for the Golden Gophers have eligibility
remaining.
Georgia Tech regrouped after posting higher scores in three
successive rounds to shoot a 285 for a 1,138-stroke total to take
second place. Second-ranked Clemson improved 17 strokes from the
third round, shooting a 281 to tie Texas for third at 1,142.
``My hat's off to Brad James,'' Georgia Tech coach Bruce Heppler
said. ``Somebody needs to take the interim off his title. To rally
those kids and that program, a program that was almost
non-existent. Sometimes, inspiration takes over and that's just a
phenomenal round of golf.''