Weak final round dooms Trojans again

Two strokes out of first place after two rounds, the No. 10 USC men’s golf team entered Tuesday’s final round at the Stanford U.S. Intercollegiate in contention for a championship for the third straight tournament.

And for the third straight tournament, the Trojans could not put together a strong final round, finishing 10 strokes behind champions No. 6 Oregon and falling to a tie for fifth place at 9 over par at Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.

“We’ve seen signs every week that we’re turning into a pretty good team,” USC coach Chris Zambri said. “It just doesn’t seem like we’ve been able to put up the final round that we needed or have four guys playing well.”

Playing in their final tournament before the Pac-10 championships April 26 to 28, USC finished behind conference foes Oregon, No. 6 Washington and No. 25 Oregon State.

“We started the day two shots back and when you’re in that position you want to go out and win,” junior Matthew Giles said. “So coming in tied for fifth is a little bit disappointing, but hopefully we can work out the things we need to improve for Pac-10s.”

Freshman T.J. Vogel turned in another solid performance for the Trojans, shooting 74-65-69 and placing in a tie for eighth, his third top-10 finish of the spring.

Giles carded 12 birdies on the week but also posted eight bogeys and two double bogeys, shooting 70-70-70 to finish in a tie for 16th.

“I did some things really well, but I just made far too many mistakes for the week,” Giles said. “Hopefully, I can eradicate them going forward.”

Freshman Martin Trainer enjoyed a homecoming of sorts, shooting 75-68-69 to finish tied for 19th on a course where he grew up playing.

“He had a really nice week,” Zambri said of Trainer. “He played two really good rounds for us, and we’re stoked to see that.”

Sophomore Steve Lim, who had been a model of consistency for the Trojans, shot 69-73-77 and placed in a tie for 44th, his lowest finish of the spring.

To make matters worse, Lim injured his wrist while hitting a ball out of the rough on his first hole of Tuesday’s final round. Lim finished the round and will have his wrist evaluated by a trainer Wednesday.

“I tried to punch out and I ended up hitting it really fat,” Lim said. “It kind of grabbed and I jammed my wrist. It hurt right away.”

Redshirt junior Bo DeHuff, who is battling freshman Stewart Hagestad for the Trojans’ fifth spot, shot 78-80-77 and placed 97th.

Hagestad, competing as an individual, fared better, shooting 74-76-74 and placing tied for 72nd.

USC will need six golfers for the expanded format of the Pac-10 championships later this month in Tempe, Ariz. With five scores counting in each round, the Trojans’ depth will be tested, especially if Lim’s injury is serious.

“I haven’t had a serious injury in my life, and if this is one, it’s trouble,” Lim said. “Playing without me would put us in a terrible position. I hope it’s just a minor strain where I could play golf.”