2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championships Final Notes & Quotes

June 2, 2001

Quotes

* Florida's national championship is its fourth in men's golf. The Gators also won national crowns in 1968, `73 and `93. With it's fourth men's golf national title, Florida moves into a tie for seventh place on the NCAA all-time men's golf championship chart. Yale has 21 championships followed by Houston (16), Princeton (12), Oklahoma State (9), Stanford (7), Harvard (6), Florida (4), LSU (4) and North Texas (4).

* Florida head coach Buddy Alexander, in his 14th season at Florida, wins his second national title while with the Gators (1993). Under Alexander, Florida has posted two national championships, one second-place finish (1990), two third-place finishes (1985 and 1994) and one fifth place finish (1988).

* Florida's 18-stroke win is the third-largest margin of victory since 1968 when the tournament went to a four-round format. The largest margin of victory belongs to Wake Forest with its 33-stroke victory over second-place Oklahoma State in 1975, followed by Oklahoma's 19-stroke advantage over Texas in 1989.

* The 1,126 total strokes by Florida marks the ninth-lowest total in NCAA Championships history (1,116 by Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech, 2000, 1,118 by UNLV in 1998 and Arizona in 2000, 1,121 by Clemson in 1998, 1,122 by Houston in 2000 and Georgia Tech in 1998, 1,125 by Texas in 2000).

* The Gators posted the three lowest team round scores of the tournament -- 275 (4th round), 277 (3rd round) and 278 (2nd round).

* Florida's sweep of both the team and individual crowns marks the 33rd time in NCAA men's golf history

* Florida's final round of 275, 13-under par is the second-best total in school history. The Gators shot a 14-under par at the 1985 Imperial Lakes Intercollegiate and the 1997 Gator Invitational

* Florida's Nick Gilliam becomes the second player in school history to earn NCAA individual medallist honors, joining Bob Murphy who won the individual championship in 1966. The championship is Gilliam's first individual title of his career. His previous best finish was a second-place showing at the 2000 Gary Koch/ Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate. Gilliam's lone other NCAA Championship finish was a 70th place showing in 1999.

* Clemson finished second at the NCAA Championships for second time in school history. Their previous second-place finish was in 1998.

* Clemson finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships for the fifth straight season (third in 1997, second in 1998, eighth in 1999, seventh in 2000 and second in 2001). It marks the first time a Clemson team of any sport has posted five straight top 10 final national rankings since the Tiger men's soccer team finished among the top 10 nationally seven consecutive seasons from 1973-79.

* Clemson's John Engler closed out his career as the Tigers' all-time leader in stroke average (71.84).

* Georgia Tech's Bryce Molder finished the year with an NCAA single-season record stroke average of 69.43. Molder finished his career with an NCAA career record stroke average of 70.67, bettering the previous mark of Stanford's Tiger Woods (71.10).

* Arizona finished third at the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row.

* Georgia Tech posted its third top-four finish at the NCAA Championships in the past four seasons (third in 1998, second in 2000 & fourth in 2001). It is also the Yellow Jackets' eighth top-10 NCAA finish in school history.

* Wake Forest registered its 24th top-10 NCAA finish in 38 tournament appearance.

* Virginia Tech became the first Big East team to advance past regional play. The Hokies enjoyed their best finish (8th) since regional play began and their second best in school history.

* The course record of 65 was equaled by three individuals -- Camilo Benedetti of Florida (4th round), Jamie Elson of Augusta State (2nd round) and Ricky Barnes (Arizona) 2nd round.

* Four players recorded four consecutive rounds of par or better -- Simon Nash of Minnesota (71-72-72-71=286), Nick Gilliam of Florida (69-70-66-71=276), Kris Mikkelsen of Georgia Tech (66-72-72-71=281) and D.J. Trahan of Clemson (72-71-71-69=283).

* 2001 NCAA Championships statistical leaders:
Par 3 scoring: Nick Gilliam (Florida), Ryan Hybl (Georgia) & Parker McLachlin (UCLA) -4,
Par 4 scoring: Jamie Elson (Augusta State) & Troy McKinley (Pacific) -3,
Par 5 scoring: Camilo Benedetti (Florida) -12, Eagles: Camilo Benedetti (Florida), Kris Mikkelsen (Georgia Tech), David Miller (Georgia) & Matt Jones (Arizona State) 2,
Birdies: Nick Gilliam (Florida) 20,
Pars: Parker McLachlin (UCLA) & Jason Higton (Pacific) 52.

2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championships
Final Round Participant Quotes

Florida Gators
Head Coach Buddy Alexander:

On the day: "I was doing the one word answer earlier in the week: awful and excellent, so let's go with awesome. That was an incredible show. It was overwhelming what happened on that front nine and then it just continued right through the 14th hole. We just kept making birdies. We stubbed our toe a little bit coming in but it's kind of hard to keep from doing that. Obviously, you can see the scoreboard and it pretty much over an hour or more ago. I can' t say enough about this team. They spent more time in the weight room than I spent in the office, I think."

On the effects of the rain delay: "The last rain delay that I remember was `93 when we won. So, I'm pulling for rain delays from now on. One time we finished second and twice we win, I don't care. I'm pulling for rain delays from now on. I don't think we had any advantage. I don't think the golf course was easier this morning when we went out and played more holes than did Clemson and some of those other guys and we were playing with the team that was leading the tournament. I don't see it as a reversal. As I said yesterday in the press room, I didn't think the weather would be a factor."

Nick Gilliam:

On saving the best for last : "In general, what an amazing feeling right now, to have our team to win the championship and myself. I couldn't have dreamed a better picture. Having my dad being here, it's just been amazing. I played, what I felt like, at times kind of inspired golf. I played really well all week. I didn't make any mistakes until the 17th and 18th holes today or maybe I started thinking ahead a little bit for the first time. Obviously I thought ahead occasionally but I did a very good job focusing in on each shot. That was really just the key to the week. I knew I was capable of this, it just never happened before. It was good to be able to excel under the pressure and to do it in my final tournament really means a lot."

On if it's the biggest win of his career: "Without a doubt. I've played many tournaments. I haven't finished this well in this big of a tournament. It's amazing. It's a great feeling. I'm sure I won't realize what happened until next week."

Clemson Tigers
Head Coach Larry Penley:

On the final round: "What Florida is doing today is incredible. I thought the guys were playing hard. You have to get the ball on the fairway. It's out there. The greens are perfect again. They've got the hole locations a little easier today. I think it was easier to get your ball closer to the hole."

On coming out after yesterday's rain delay: "We actually finished really strong this morning. We played 15, 16, 17, 18 one under par, which I thought was really good. We just didn't get off to a good enough start this morning to be a factor. We kind of woke up a little late. From 14 on in, we played at about six or seven under par, but it was almost too little, too late."

On the team's finish: "I'm perfectly content with the effort we gave this week. We played as hard as we can play. We still haven't made very many putts. When they fall, it kind of snowballs, but when they don't fall, it seems to be tough to make them go in. We really could never get the putters on a roll."

Sophomore D.J. Trahan

On the effects of the rain: "We came back out this morning and we played solid. I don't know if it killed our momentum, but we played well this morning. After we got done with our round, we're starting a new round, it's just like having another day. Basically, Florida's at 26 under par. I don't think anyone could do anything about that. We were nowhere near being able to catch that."

"Our main concern was the first two days. We had a great third round going and we played a pretty good final round. We just weren't in good position after the first two days."

On his final round: "I really hit the ball solid coming down the stretch. The last four holes on this golf course are difficult. I hit the ball well coming down the stretch and left myself the chances and opportunities and really coming down the back nine of this golf course, that's all you want to do."

Georgia Bulldogs

Nick Cassini

On coming in as the favorite: "It kind of gives you a taste of what Tiger (Woods) has to go through every tournament or every major that he plays in. It's tough. There's a lot of pressure when you're expected to win. There's a lot of expectations and a lot of pressure, and it's a hard tournament to win. Everybody comes gunning and everyone's playing their best. Every once in a while it just comes down to luck and I don't think the chips really fell our way this week."

On losing to Florida by a large margin: "Well, that's golf. We've beaten them by 50 this year. It just goes to show you that in golf, anything can happen. They have a great team and they competed against us all year and they just happened to play better than us in the tournament."

On his four years at Georgia: "It's been the four greatest years of my life. It's hard to describe. There were a lot emotions coming down that last hole, thinking about certain things that happened throughout the years."

Augusta State

Jamie Elson

On the course: "Fantastic. I can't even believe that we were able to play considering how much water was lying there last night. The greens didn't seem to be affected at all. Maybe they softened up a little bit, but the speed of them was still good."

On the Walker Cup: "Hopefully I got myself a few brownie points this week with my good golf, but I don't know. That's up to the selection committee."

On if playing in the U.S. hurts his chances of playing in the Walker Cup: "I don't think it hurts me anymore. It might have a few years ago. I think the committees and the unions at home recognize collegiate golf a lot more than they used to now, and rightly so. I think it's difficult for them selecting teams, obviously because people like me don't play the top amateurs from home week in and week out like I do over here. It's a difficult job for them. I think it's good of them that they recognize my golf at least as much as they do."

Arizona Wildcats

Head Coach Rick LaRose

On change of momentum due to weather: "There's no doubt it changed the momentum. We can't do anything about the weather. I think Florida, they played great the first nine holes today and they carried that momentum over. They just really played terrific. Maybe if we hadn't stopped and we kept going, maybe the momentum would have stayed with us. Who knows about that."

On holding lead through three rounds: "If it had been close, obviously we wouldn't have felt too good about it because we didn't play very well. Ricky Barnes just lost his poise out there today. He didn't play very well. (Chris) Nallen didn't play very well. Those two guys we were kind of counting on, they just didn't play very well. If it was close, it might have hurt a little bit, but Florida just spanked us today. My hat's off to them."

Ricky Barnes

On his final round: "After a while, we were out there so long, I probably lost a little concentration. I lost my putter. I lost everything. No part of my game was there today."

On Florida's Nick Gilliam: "He putted well. In order to win the championship, you have to putt well, and he made a lot of putts."

On finishing third: "We were tied for the lead going into the last round. Coming away with third, I don't think we're satisfied with this because I surely know that I' m not satisfied, not only with my performance but with the team's performance."

On what he took away from the experience: "You've got to be mentally stronger going into the final round. Don't choke under the pressure."

Georgia Tech

Head Coach Bruce Heppler

Comments: "The first thing I would like to say is congratulations to the University of Florida. I just didn't see that kind of score when we got here. They got to playing well at the end of the year and my hat is off to Buddy (Alexander) and his kids."

On his team's play: "I am very happy with my team. We went out this morning and played the last six holes at eight under par to get back in the tournament and then we played well in the afternoon. I am very proud of the way my guys fought today, it is a lot better than it was 24-hours ago."

On Kris Mikkelsen: "I am happy for Kris he is going to be an All-American and to come in here and earn it playing 72 holes. I am happy for him."

On Bryce Molder: "He is the epitome of a student-athlete. He played good, he made one bad swing (14th hole) and missed three or four putts early on. He played well, didn't win the tournament but his 66 in the third round got us back in it. It has been on honor to coach the greatest player in the history of college golf. I am a very fortunate guy."

Kris Mikkelsen

On making a run at Florida: "We just kept getting further behind, even though we were playing well. We started playing well too late. The last 27 holes we didn't make many mistakes, we made some putts and the guys played good. We just got too far behind as a team, they (Florida) caught the momentum throughout the day and played great."

Bryce Molder

On bad drive on hole 14 that led to a double-bogey : "Seems like all year I have had a little monkey throw it out when I hit a bad one. I hit my driver about as good as I can hit it all day long, that swing got away from me. I still don't know where that swing came from."

On whether he will remain an amateur: " I plan on staying amateur, I would like to play in the Walker Cup if I am invited. The only reason that I wouldn't remain an amateur would be if I went out and won the U.S. Open."

2001 NCAA Men's Golf Championships Final Notes & Quotes

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