EMILY REID/Arizona Daily Wildcat Arizona sophomore Chris Nallen follows through on a swing yesterday morning during the US Collegiate Championships at the Tucson National Golf Course. Nallen finished second invidually at 10-under-par to lead the Wildcats to a second-place team finish.

Sophomore Chris Nallen isn't your typical golfer. Nallen very rarely curses or mutters anything to himself on the golf course; he avoids idle chatter with his competitors and never shows any emotion, good or bad.

While posting a three-day composite total of 8-under-par, Nallen truly shined on the back nine holes yesterday afternoon.

All too often in golf, stories revolve around the star player who, because of a mental error or loss of concentration, loses the tournament. And although Nallen did finish second, two strokes behind Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State, Nallen did everything he could to win that tournament.

But in Nallen's eyes, the day could have been even better.

"I feel great about the way I played," Nallen said. "It was a weird day. I wasn't really hitting it close (to the hole), so I didn't really have a lot of good birdie looks. And I was having trouble with my driver."

Good thing Nallen brought his putter yesterday, because he rolled in tough putts under championship-level pressure.

He opened the back nine with a tremendous eagle putt on 10, opening the door for both an individual and a team victory. But his driver plagued him once again on 11 as a wayward tee shot went out of bounds.

"I pulled it to the left on 11 again," Nallen said, "I have had a hard time driving it on that hole. It's just very frustrating."

Maybe it had something to do with the giant lake that covers most of the right side of the fairway. It would no doubt be home to nearly every sliced tee shot I would take if I was playing the course.

Nallen's magic began on the 15th hole, when his birdie streak began. On a long par five, Nallen was faced with a tricky 8-footer downhill. After a pure stroke, it rolled right in and you could see the momentum building.

A colossal 300-yard drive on 16 set up a wedge into the green. He left himself another tough 8-footer. Birdie No. 2.

Seventeen was a tough par three dead into the teeth of the wind. Nallen left his approach a little to the right, setting up a nearly impossible 25-foot putt with a side hill lie.

What made it even tougher was that his top competitor - Mahan - hit an amazing shot, leaving him an easy birdie putt.

"It was about 25 to 30 feet," Nallen said, "I just hoped that it would break in the cup."

The 25-foot snake rattled into the cup as if he never thought it was going to miss.

Now the pressure was really on. With a slim chance at the individual title remaining and a serious possibility for Arizona to win the team title, the pressure was squarely on Nallen's shoulders. He came through with one of his best drives of the day.

"Eighteen is an awesome finishing hole." Nallen said. "I knew I had to hit a perfect drive and I did. It turned out to be a really good day."

After yet another spectacular approach shot on 18, he was set up for the fairy-tale finish. All he had to do was roll in yet another tough putt, this time in front of a gathering of all the teams in the tournament as well as other golfers who stopped their round to catch a glimpse of what was occurring.

Nallen made the putt and showed his first sign of emotion on the day with a little fist pump. You could see he was one happy man.

Although he still had to settle for second place, the Blairstown, N.J., native showed the mental toughness and determination of a grizzled veteran.

Whoever wants to claim that golfers aren't athletes should attempt to accomplish the feats of Chris Nallen - both physical and mental - in one of the year's toughest competitions.