DANIELLE MALOTT/Arizona Daily Wildcat Junior Chris Nallen sizes up a putt during the final round of the National Invitational Tournament. Nallen tied for 10th place at two-over par.

'Cats blow eight-shot lead on final day but hold on for late win

The men's golf team gave new meaning to the term "hanging by a thread" as it pulled out its fourth win in its last five tournaments yesterday in Tucson.

The Wildcats went into the final day of the National Invitational Tournament with an eight-shot lead, but when the wind picked up, New Mexico took advantage and started a comeback that had most Wildcat fans shaking in their spikes.

"Reid (Hatley) really had a bad day, so we had four guys that knew they couldn't make any mistakes through 14 holes," head coach Rick LaRose said. "We really played pretty solid, then the next thing I know, they made a couple of birdies and on the 16th hole we absolutely came apart."

The wind turned the normally-fluid Wildcats into a grind-fest that made par a score that anyone on the course was happy with.

"When it was crunch time, par was definitely a good number to post," senior Brian Woolf said. "It wasn't a day that coach was telling us to make a couple of birdies coming in, it was more like trying to make par."

After a struggle in the first round, senior Andrew Medley finished the last two days with an exclamation mark, a 35-foot bomb on the 18th green to secure the victory.

The putt was definitely the shot of the day, and was reminiscent of the Justin Leonard putt in the 1997 Ryder Cup, hitting the back of the cup and then jumping into the hole.

"That putt was moving," Medley said. "If it hadn't hit the hole I think I might have made bogey."

The Wildcats showed their true colors on the 18th green, which was voted one of the toughest holes in golf by the PGA tour when they stop at Omni Tucson National during the Chrysler Classic.

After senior Ricky Barnes hit his second shot to 15 feet and rolled it in for birdie, Woolf made a downhill par putt from off the green to start the Wildcats' comeback.

"The team clutched up when they needed to," LaRose said.

The win marked the team's fourth win this spring, giving Arizona the title of hottest team in the nation going into Tempe this weekend.

The Arizona State-hosted tournament will be a struggle for UA, as Barnes heads to Augusta, Georgia for The Masters. As winner of the 2002 U.S. Amateur Championship, Barnes will play alongside defending champion Tiger Woods.

"(Winning four out of first five tournaments) has been really nice, but playing at ASU without Ricky will be hard," LaRose said. "Somebody will have to step up and all five guys will have to play really well (for us to contend)."

With the comeback this Arizona team pulled out yesterday, nothing is out of the question.

From the bunker ·

Arizona State's Alejandro Canizares won the tournament with an impressive two-under par 70 on Tuesday. The freshman had the advantage by getting his round in before the wind really picked up ·

Barnes' tie for second was his sixth top-10 finish of the year, the 23rd of his career ·

UA had three players that finished in the top 10, with Barnes second, Medley at fifth, and Chris Nallen with a tie for tenth ·