By
Kyle Faraday
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Sophomore leads from start to finish, but Wildcats finish 3rd
Sophomore Ricky Barnes led the Pacific 10 Conference Championships wire-to-wire to claim the individual title and help the Wildcats to a third-place team finish.
It was the second time this season that Barnes has received medalist honors and the fourth time in his career. He posted a final round of 68 (3-under-par) yesterday to finish the tournament with a four-round total of 268 (-16).
The 16-under-par total was a record-low score for any Arizona golfer at the Pac-10 Championships. It also marked the sixth time that a Wildcat golfer has garnered individual honors at the tournament since Arizona's admittance into the league in 1978-79.
Barnes was just one of two golfers competing in the 60-player field to card four consecutive rounds in the '60s. The other, Southern California's Hunter Mahan, finished three strokes back of the UA sophomore at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.
The Wildcats came in at even-par 355 on the final day to finish at 1,408 (-12) and in third place for the tournament.
Arizona fell eight strokes short of the pace set by Southern California, who shot 1,400 (-20) as a team to win the championship. Arizona State was the runner up with a 1,404 (-16).
Freshman Chris Nallen continued his strong play in recent events by finishing in fifth place with a 276 (-8) total. Also scoring for the Wildcats were sophomore Reid Hatley (282, -2), junior Cody Beyer (293, +9) and freshman Andy Connell (294, +10).
Arizona will next be in action May 17-19 at the NCAA West Regional in Corvallis, Ore.
