Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Cats earn another 7th-place showing (Men’s Golf)

When Tom Johnson shot a career-best 62 in the practice round of the Fossum Spartan Invitational on Thursday, he made sure to keep it a secret to everyone except his team.

“I didn’t really want the other teams to know that there was a score like that out there,” Northwestern’s top golfer said.

The last thing Johnson wanted was for the competition to see him coming.

His strategy worked.

The junior was able to keep his momentum going through the weekend in East Lansing, Mich., shooting 5-under for the tournament and placing third individually.

But Johnson’s strong individual performance was not enough to pull the Wildcats out of their team slump. The Cats placed seventh overall at 18-over to follow another seventh-place performance at Ohio State’s Kepler Intercollegiate on April 12-13.

“It’s very disappointing,” Goss said. “To finish seventh back to back is by no means indicative of how good we are.”

Johnson set the example by sinking 17 birdies for the outings, snapping a series of poor tournaments for his best performance of the spring season.

“Tom was obviously in a little bit of a lull, but he seems to be very motivated now,” NU coach Pat Goss said. “I’m sure he’s going to have a great finish.”

In the final round, Johnson found himself six strokes back of eventual winner James Lepp of Illinois. Johnson birdied the first three holes to get within three with 14 holes to go.

“It got the juices flowing,” Johnson said. “Giving myself a chance to win again was a great feeling.”

But his final-round 69 wasn’t enough to catch Lepp, who held off Johnson and second-place Peter Laws of Kent State by shooting a 72. Lepp and Laws both paced their squads, which split the tournament win at even par.

Goss’ only criticism of Johnson’s game was his inability to convert on his short-game opportunities. A 5-under score is unusually high for a 17-birdie performance, Johnson said.

“If Tom minimized his mistakes just a bit at the Fossum, he would have won,” Goss said. “He made some silly short-game mistakes. I think those little details are the difference between having a good tournament and winning.”

The remaining members of NU’s top three, Scott Harrington and Bjorn Widerstedt, were unable to match the strong play of their teammate.

Harrington was plagued from the beginning by his putting, Goss said. After driving the green on the first hole of the third round, the senior ended up three-putting for par. He followed up the next hole with another three-putt and finished 20th at 5-over for the tournament.

Widerstedt, the Cats’ strongest golfer of the spring, has struggled since the team returned to competition in the Midwest. He placed 25th at 7-over in the Fossum.

“Bjorn’s inconsistency has plagued him,” Goss said. “But the reality of inconsistency is that he could play great and win the Big Ten championships.”

Junior Casey Strunk placed 39th at 12-over and freshman Bryson Young finished 62nd at 18-over to round out the remaining scores.

After wrapping up their last tournament of the regular season, the Cats hope to forget about their string of poor performances by winning the Big Ten tournament, which begins Friday.

“If we can get some momentum and confidence early, we can win the Big Ten championship,” Goss said. “The good thing now is that it all starts from zero.”

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881
Cats earn another 7th-place showing (Men’s Golf)