Junior's sudden-death victory lifts Wildcats to second-place finish

After a four-hole sudden-death playoff, junior golfer Henry Liaw was crowned the winner of the Ping-Arizona Intercollegiate, defeating ASU's Alejandro Canizares for the individual top spot.

Liaw took the tournament crown away from Canizares with an eagle on the fourth playoff hole that sealed the win.

"This will go a long way for his confidence, now he can say he is just as good as all the top players," said men's golf assistant coach John Knauer.

After coming away from the tournament the previous day in first place, Arizona fell to second place, where they tied for the runner-up spot with rival ASU. Knauer said that after the end of Monday's competition he was feeling pretty confident that the Wildcats could win the tournament.

"I felt like we were really coming through, this team had turned a corner and come back with a vengeance," Knauer said.

All of that went out the window he said, after the team picked up some bogeys and double bogeys in their first few holes of the day, which began with the concluding holes from round two.

Knauer said the bad start today continued through to the final round. Nine holes into that final round, Knauer said he felt terrible and down in the dumps, feeling like the team was repeating its pattern of the fall season. The tournament started to get brighter as sophomore Travis Esway and junior Nathan Tyler rebounded down the home stretch, adding birdies to their scorecards.

Knauer said that despite the Wildcats slide from the top spot, he was glad that they were able to catch up with ASU in the final round.

The Wildcats finished the tournament with a 9-under-par 843 for all three rounds. For the day Arizona was 11-over, shooting a team score of 292.

The winner of the tournament was Brigham Young University with a three round score of 18-under 834. BYU finished the day yesterday with plus-two 286. The Arizona 'B' team finished the tournament in ninth place just behind Texas and Texas A&M, with a three round score of 865.

Knauer said that BYU is a little older and more experienced of a team than the Wildcats.

"You are always disappointed when you lose," he said.

Knauer said that he had told Liaw that he is the reason the team will win or lose.

"If he has a chance to win, the team will do better," Knauer said.

That fact was proved as Liaw, as Knauer put it, "did his job, and came through for us."

Junior Josh Esler needed to be more consistent Knauer said, and that despite his round today, Knauer was impressed with the good attitude he kept throughout.

Knauer also praised freshmen Nick Park for his round. Park finished the tournament tied for 10th place.

"I think he just earned himself a trip to Hawaii," Knauer said of the Arizona 'B' team's top performer.

The Wildcats compete next in the John Burns Intercollegiate in Wahiawa, Hawaii from Feb 22-24th.