colleges
UCLA
women keep
winning
�� The top-ranked
UCLA women made
it two for two in
2011-12 with a three-
stroke win over Van-
derbilt at the Stan-
ford Intercollegiate
Oct. 16. The Bruins
shot a 10-under 842
total at Stanford GC
and claimed the title
despite not counting
the scores of senior
Stephanie Kono.
The three-time
All-American played
as an individual and
finished second to
Washington fresh-
man Soo Bin Kim,
who won her first
title with a 13-under
200 score, breaking
the Husky 54-hole
school scoring mark.
—Ryan Herrington
nationwide tour
Blasting his
way to the
PGA Tour
�� Long-hitting
Jason Kokrak
blasted his way to
the PGA Tour with
a seven-stroke win
over Mark Anderson
at the Miccosukee
Championship.
Kokrak, the
Nationwide Tour’s
driving distance
leader at 320.6 yards,
climbed to fourth on
the money list after
his second victory of
the year. He became
the tour’s fourth
two-time winner in
2011 by shooting five-under 66 in the final
round at Miccosukee
G&CC in Miami.
“This is beyond
my imagination,”
said Kokrak, 26,
a Canadian who
attended Xavier. “I
would never have
dreamt this. At the
beginning of the
year you set goals
that you want to
meet, and then you
set some that maybe
are a little out of
reach. I’ve already
exceeded all the
goals that I set for
myself this year.”
The top 60 play-
ers on the tour
money list after the
Winn-Dixie Jack-
sonville Open qualify
for the Nationwide
Tour Championship,
Oct. 27-30 at the
Daniel Island Club in
Charleston, S.C. The
top 25 at the end of
the year earn 2012
PGA Tour cards.
miscellany
The fringe…
�� Sang-moon Bae
of South Korea
moved into the top
50 on the World
Ranking by winning
the Japan Open,
his third title of
2011. Bae, the Japan
Golf Tour’s lead-
ing money win-
ner, beat Kenichi
Kuboya with a par
on the first hole of a
sudden-death play-
off. … Three former
major champions—
Louis Oosthuizen
(fourth), Trevor
Immelman (fifth)
and Angel Cabrera
(T- 6)—had their best
finishes of the year
at the McGladrey
Classic. Immelman,
who hasn’t won since
the 2008 Masters,
shot a third-round
62, the best of his
PGA Tour career.
… One week after
winning for the first
time as a pro, Rickie
Fowler missed the
cut at the McGladrey
Classic. Fowler won
the OneAsia Tour’s
Kolon Korea Open,
Oct. 9, shooting
16-under 268 on a
week when only six
other players broke
par. … In his first
chance at Augusta
National GC, Japan’s
Hideki Matsuyama
surprised many
by making the cut
and earning low
amateur honors at
the Masters. He’ll
get the opportunity
to repeat that major
performance in 2012
as he won his second
consecutive Asian
Amateur, Oct. 2,
beating South Ko-
rea’s Soo-min Lee
by one stroke at Sin-
gapore Island CC. …
Host Georgia won
the USGA Women’s
State Team Champi-
onship at The Land-
ings Club’s Palmetto
Course in Savannah,
Oct. 6. The team of
14-year-old Rachel
Dai, 17-year-old
Amira Alexander
and 47-year-old
Laura Coble were
two strokes ahead
of teams from Texas
and Tennessee with
a score of 16-over
448 in the 54-hole
event. Dai, a high-
school freshman,
made five birdies
during her final-
round 72, lifting her
to medalist honors
at two-under 214.
… Not only is the
PGA Tour money
title coming down
to the wire between
Webb Simpson and
Luke Donald at the
Childrens Miracle
Network Hospitals
Classic, the Vardon
Trophy is up for
grabs as well. Enter-
ing Disney, Donald
has a scoring average
of 68.86. Simpson is
at 69.23. … Keegan
Bradley will replace
Steve Stricker on
the U.S. Presidents
Cup team should
Stricker’s injured
neck keep him from
playing, but Interna-
tional captain Greg
Norman thinks he
should have been
selected for the
team over Tiger
Woods. “If I was in
[Bradley’s] shoes, I
would feel like I got
gut-checked a little
bit,” Norman said.
“He’s a young guy. He
likes the Presidents
Cup. He loves the
idea of playing for his
country, and he’s not.
So I feel for him.”
