Late collapses have cost USC in consecutive weeks

After holding leads late in its last two events but failing to win, the No. 8 USC men’s golf team hopes to seal the deal this weekend and claim its first tournament title of the year at the Stanford U.S. Intercollegiate in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Trojans built a four-stroke lead last week at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational but went a combined nine over par on the last three holes and slipped to third place.

USC coach Chris Zambri said he wasn’t overly concerned about his team’s inability to finish.

“If you’re in the game, that’s a great thing. We’ve been in the middle of it for the last two or three events we’ve played,” Zambri said. “We are getting better, and I do think it is the kind of group that can finish.”

The Trojans have finished in the top three in their last three events. In its first five events of the season, USC finished no higher than tied for fourth.

“It’s a great thing that we’re giving ourselves opportunities to win,” junior Matt Giles said. “I feel as though the more opportunities we get, the better all of us will get at [finishing].”

With their recent good form, the Trojans have climbed nine spots in the national rankings in the last month and will enter this weekend’s tournament as one of the favorites to win.

Host No. 3 Stanford, Thunderbird Invitational champion No. 5 Washington and crosstown rival No. 7 UCLA pose the biggest threats to USC’s championship hopes.

Zambri will make one change to his lineup from the squad he sent out last week in the desert, inserting redshirt junior Bo DeHuff for freshman Stewart Hagestad in the five spot. Hagestad will still compete as an individual.

DeHuff turned in his top finish of the spring competing as an individual last week, tying for 42nd.

Giles, a two-time All-American, seemed to rediscover his top form last week, posting his first top-five finish of the season.

“Everything’s much better,” Giles said. “There wasn’t any one thing that stood out before. Everything was pretty poor to be perfectly honest. Now I feel really confident with my short game especially.”

Sophomore Steve Lim led the field by two strokes last week after two rounds, shooting 68-65. He struggled in the final round, however, posting a 75 and falling into a tie for eighth.

“It’s not easy to be in that position, leading by two,” Zambri said. “Steve’s won tournaments before but he hasn’t won in college so it was new for him. I think he’ll learn from the experience and be better off for it.”

Freshman T.J. Vogel continued his solid play last week, finishing in a tie for 22nd. Vogel finished in second place overall at the two previous stroke-play events.

For freshman Martin Trainer, this week’s tournament marks a homecoming. Trainer is from Palo Alto and has played the Stanford Golf Course more than 50 times in his career.

“I know the course really well, and that gives me a big advantage,” Trainer said. “I’m really excited. If you know your way around, you can definitely shoot a good score there.”

The Stanford U.S. Intercollegiate, which begins Sunday and ends with the final round on Tuesday, is the last event for USC before the team returns to Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., for the Pac-10 championships at the end of the month.

“I think everyone is identifying on an individual basis where they can improve their games and working hard on that,” Giles said. “With the last couple of events being really close calls that we probably should have won — that gives us some hunger and motivation in going forward.”