Like a fine wine, UA golfer Ted Purdy just got better as time went on, following up Monday's 69 and 66 with a 65 yesterday to win the individual title at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate.

Purdy paced a UA team that won its first team title since the 1992 NCAA Championships.

"This is the happiest I've been in golf. I am happy for the team to win and glad that I could have a big part in it, but a lot of people deserve credit for our win," Purdy said.

Arizona had two golfers in the top 10 and seven in the top 50 as they ran away from Pacific 10 Conference rival Stanford in the final round to win by 14 strokes at 843.

During the final round, Purdy had three birdies on the front nine and followed a bogey on No. 10 with two-straight birdies to take the lead for good. He finished up the tournament with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

"We've been working hard and were due for a good showing. It was great for Ted Purdy to do so well playing in front of his family and friends," assistant coach Tom Brill said.

Second place went to Stanford's Tiger Woods who played consistently, shooting rounds of 68, 69, and 69 for a final score of 206, but never challenged Purdy.

"I enjoy playing with Tiger. I've known him for a long time," Purdy said. "When we play he brings out the best in me. So far I'm 2-2 versus Tiger."

Purdy was tied with Oregon State golfer Birk Nelson after the first two rounds, but Nelson imploded yesterday, finishing 12 strokes of the lead and tied for 10th.

"I was real nervous before the final round and I talked to Jeff Janssen (UA's mental training consultant), and he just told me to go and just have fun, and I went out with that attitude and my putting was great. I was putting the best of my entire life to day," Purdy said.

A big part of the Wildcats' win was senior Rory Sabbatini's last round. Sabbatini shot 71 and 73 in the first two rounds and was tied for 20th. Yesterday, Sabbatini came back, shooting a 67 to finish at 211 and tied for eighth.

"I was playing pretty good for the tournament, but the last round I was on top of my game, I was relaxed and just played well," Sabbatini said.

"Rory was struggling coming in to the last round but started off great, and we knew it was going to be a great round for him," Brill said.

Other Wildcat golfers finishing in the top 50 were freshman Andy Barnes, at 215 for 17th place, and Matt Bergstrom, who shot 221 for 33rd. Gary Matthews was 45th at 225 and Todd Rose had 227 for 50th.

Following Arizona, Stanford, Texas and Tulsa were bunched up at 857, 858 and 859 respectively. Arizona State, ranked No. 3 in the country coming into the tournament, finished sixth with a score of 868.

"Right now we are ranked in the top ten, but this should put us into the top five. We are really looking forward to doing well in the Pac-10 and the NCAA regionals and nationals," Sabbatini said.

Pac-10 schools Southern Cal and Oregon State finished fifth and ninth, respectively.

"Hopefully, this is like pushing over the first domino for the rest of the season. We beat a couple of good teams in Stanford and Texas, and whenever we beat Arizona State it is extra sweet," Brill said.