Arizona Golfer wins Pac-10

From the Arizona Daily Star

By Patrick Finley
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Creighton Honeck picked at his buffet lunch. He couldn't eat.
After double-bogeying the second-to-last hole of Wednesday's Pac-10 men's golf championships in Fairfax, Calif., the UA senior figured he lost any chance to win the individual title.
"You get that emptiness feeling in your stomach when something like this happens," the senior said.
After about an hour off — one that included a few practice shots — Honeck learned he had completed 18 holes in a first-place tie and would be paired with UCLA's Kevin Chappell, a good friend, in a sudden-death playoff.
Honeck said he "bombed a driver" just to the left of the fairway, and hit a four-foot putt to birdie — and win — the first playoff hole.
"I don't really remember much after that," he said.
It marked the first tournament victory of his collegiate career. Honeck finished with a 71 on the day, the only one of the tournament's top five finishers to make par. For the tournament, he shot a 3-under 281.
He is the seventh UA golfer to win the Pac-10 title and the first since Henry Liaw in 2004.
The Texan wasn't as thrilled as you would think — the UA finished sixth as a team, and Arizona State beat USC in a one-hole playoff.
Walking up the last fairway of regulation, he started thinking it was the last tournament he would play with his college teammates.
"You get those feelings," he said. "I'm walking down the fairway and I have my whole team in red and white watching me come in. Seeing all those guys — they're my friends, they're my family — and knowing it was my last tournament with all them, it's pretty sad."
Coach Rick LaRose expected that.
"You'd have to say he was the team leader this year," the UA coach said. "He fit the mold. He was a pleasure to have around."