Trojans sputter to ninth place in tourney


USC’s men’s golf team experienced a disappointing setback at this week’s Prestige Tournament, finishing well behind the leaders in ninth place. The No. 24 Trojans suffered from uncharacteristically poor individual play, especially from the team’s top two seeds, senior Jeffrey Kang and junior Anthony Paolucci. Freshman Rico Hoey, USC’s third seed, also struggled to match his early-season form.

Bogus · Senior Jeffrey Kang, the Trojans’ top seed, tied for 52nd place in the Prestige at PGA West this week with an individual score of 8-over 221. - Courtesy of USC Sports Information

Bogus · Senior Jeffrey Kang, the Trojans’ top seed, tied for 52nd place in the Prestige at PGA West this week with an individual score of 8-over 221. – Courtesy of USC Sports Information

No. 9 Stanford took home the title yesterday at PGA West Golf Course in La Quinta, Calif., finishing just two strokes ahead of No. 14 Washington. Another Pac-12 rival, No. 15 UCLA, was a distant third.

Though the Trojans improved in every round of the tournament, the team never recovered from a sluggish 4-over performance over Monday’s opening 18 holes. The teams combined for a solid 3-under yesterday, but could not make up the 25-stroke lead that Stanford opened up during the first two rounds. Head coach Chris Zambri was not pleased with the overall result.

“We finished ninth out of 12 teams,” Zambri said. “So we certainly would not characterize it as anything but a poor showing.”

Leading the charge for USC was the unexpected tandem of juniors Eric Sugimoto and Paul Smith. Sugimoto, the Trojans’ fourth seed, led the team with an even-par total over three days. The San Diego native finished in a 21st-place tie after firing consecutive scores of 1-under 70 after a first-round 2-over 73. Smith was just off the pace set by Sugimoto, stringing together two 71s with a 73 to combine for a 2-over. The Trojans’ fifth seed finished in a tie for 28th.

Neither Smith nor Sugimoto had cracked USC’s starting lineup prior to this event, but the pair benefitted from poor performances by the team’s previous lower seeds at last week’s Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii. Zambri saw the strong play of his two lowest-seeded players as a silver lining.

“It was great to get some fine play out of our four and five positions,” Zambri said. “That is what gave us some problems in Hawaii.”

On the flip side, the Trojans’ top seeds underperformed. Paolucci went into yesterday’s final round at 2-under, but a team-worst 5-over 76 knocked him into a tie for 35th place. Hoey, USC’s second place finisher in Hawaii, salvaged scores of 73 and 75 in the first two rounds with a 2-under 69 yesterday. Still, the team’s third seed tied for 39th.

Perhaps the biggest surprise for USC was senior Jeffrey Kang, who failed to shoot a single round under par, and finished in a 52nd-place tie aftering entering the tournament as the Trojans’ top seed.

Zambri felt that the poor play of his top players may not be as bad of a sign as it appears to be, and is sure that Paolucci, Kang and Hoey will return to form soon.

“I know that our top three guys will contribute greatly going forward,” Zambri said. “So all in all it was a tough week but there [were] some bright spots.”

The Trojans return to action early next week at the Jones Sport Invitational in Ventura, Calif.