The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
NCAA Championship
McDowell Finishes Tied For Fourth At NCAA Golf Championship
6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 1, 2002
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- UAB's Graeme McDowell shot a three-over-par 74 in Saturday's final round of the2002 NCAA Men's Golf Championship at the Ohio State University Scarlet Course to finish tied for fourth place overall.
The All-American and two-time Conference USA Player of The Year entered Saturday's final round with a one stroke lead in the individual standings, one stroke ahead of Oklahoma State's Hunter Mahan and three ahead of TCU's Adam Rubinson.
McDowell struggled in the final round, bogeying three holes on the front nine and two on the back nine (with one birdie on each) falling behind Rubinson and Mahan, as well individual champion Troy Matteson of Georgia Tech.
Matteson began play Saturday tied for sixth place, four shots off the lead, but came on strong down the stretch, finishing his first nine one-under-par and shooting par or better on every hole on the back nine, with birdies on three of the final six holes to finish four-under-par for the day and eight under for the tournament, with a winning score of 276.
McDowell finished the tournament tied with Justin Smith of team champion Minnesota at five-under-par 279.
It was a bittersweet ending to a brilliant season for McDowell, who had six tournament wins, was ranked first in the Golfweek.com and Golfstat Cup rankings, and was a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award.
"Obviously I would have taken this finish at the start of the week, but after having a one-shot lead going into the final round, I really wanted to win," he said after Saturday's final round.
"I got off to a slow start today and couldn't get much going at all. I'm a little disappointed, but in hindsight it's still a respectable finish."
The Portrush, Northern Ireland native, who had nine career tournament victories, also reflected on his brilliant collegiate career with typical humility.
"I'll look back on my college career and be pretty satisfied, he said.
"I kept improving every year. When I came in as a freshman, I never would have dreamed that I would have accomplished what I have. I've achieved my goals in college golf."
McDowell and his UAB teammates finished 27th overall at 1176, 16 strokes over par, six strokes ahead of Auburn (1182).
Minnesota won the team championship, finishing two-under-par at 1134, four strokes ahead of Georgia Tech (1138).
