The Arizona men's golf team posted its second lowest score of the season, but even a 20-under par team total couldn't boost the Wildcats to the top of the leader board at this weekend's Savane/ASU Thunderbird Invitational.

With dry, fast fairways and pin positions in easier spots than past years, the final scores were low all around, and the UA team couldn't muster a fifth win in the past six tournaments as Arizona State ran away with the trophy after shooting a 40-under, 824 total.

"We played pretty well together," junior Chris Nallen said. "We were disappointed with our finish because we had it going in the first couple of rounds and we just struggled coming in."

While the Wildcats were knocking it around Tempe's Karsten Golf Course, they were without their senior leader Ricky Barnes who was playing with the pros in The Masters at Augusta National in Georgia.

The Wildcats weren't totally helpless without Barnes, and Nallen picked up the slack with his career-low score as a Wildcat.

His 11-under finish of 205 helped him into a tie for third place and his eighth top-10 finish in 12 events this year.

The New Jersey native ÷ who along with Barnes is on the watch list for the Ben Hogan award ÷ stayed out of trouble, grabbing him another top-five spot.

"It was very consistent," he said. "I didn't make many bogeys and I putted better. I've been struggling (with my putter), and I haven't been scoring like I've wanted. And I finally got the ball to go in for me."

Karsten, ASU's home course, is usually a test for the top college golfers, but this week, scoring was drastically low with 28 of 30 rounds posted by the top-10 individuals finishing under par.

"Most of the par-fives (played) easy and the pins weren't in as tough a spot as normal," Nallen said. "The course played shorter because it was pretty dry, and scoring was easier."

Sophomore Kipp Riehle posted his third top-20 finish of the year with rounds of 72-68-69, and showed the rest of the team that with the Pacific-10 conference tournament coming up, he's ready to fill one of the remaining slots.

The Pac-10 tournament, scheduled for April 28-30, allows each team to have six players, counting each team's top-five scores, different from most tournaments that take five players and keep the best four scores.

According to Nallen, the team seems optimistic. With the solid spring that the Wildcats have had, the Pac-10s look to be just another tournament they can add to the win column.

"Everyone will be looking at us," Nallen said. "We're the top team, and even with UCLA playing really well, we won't be happy with a second or third place (finish)."

Barnes finishes 21st in first Masters invite

Barnes, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, didn't let the fanfare of playing alongside PGA Tour great Tiger Woods get to him; he finished in second place after round one and managed to stay tied for third after the second round. Barnes was in a position that only Ken Venturi topped after leading the 1956 Masters, going into the last day before shooting an 80 and finishing in second.

The Wildcat was the low-scoring amateur in the field, finishing alone in 21st place after scores of 75 and 73 during the final two rounds.

"He played really well and was in second place (after the first round), which is unheard of for an amateur," Nallen said. "He's made a name for himself now more than ever."