The most humbling post-season faceplant in UA sports history probably doesnβt belong to Lute Olsonβs 1993 Wildcats, eliminated by 15th-seeded Santa Clara, or Sean Miller, whose 2018 club was bombed by 13th-seeded Buffalo.
It was most likely Arizonaβs 1991 menβs golf team, ranked No. 1 after winning the loaded Pac-10 and setting a still-standing school record with eight tournament victories.
At that yearβs NCAA finals, Arizona finished a distant 18th by 40 strokes.
Arizona returned all five starters for the β92 season but it paled next to ASU, which returned two-time NCAA champion Phil Mickelson, prompting Arizona coach Rick LaRose to say βall the rest of us are playing for second.β
It was difficult to determine if LaRose was using Mickelsonβs presence as motivation, or whether he truly thought the Sun Devils were unbeatable. It was probably a combination of both. The Sun Devils were ranked No. 1 when the NCAA finals began in Albuquerque the first week of June, 1992.
This is how good Arizona was: future 10-time Ryder Cup golfer Jim Furyk was the UAβs No. 5 golfer that season, his senior year. The UA was led by 1990 and 1991 U.S. Amateur runnerup Manny Zerman, U.S. Public Links champion David Berganio and senior Harry Rudolph, who led the Wildcats with a 71.5 scoring average that season.
In Albuquerque, Mickelson was as good as feared, and then some. He shot opening rounds of 63-65 β 10 strokes better than anyone else β and ASU took lead by six strokes over Arizona.
Said Zerman: βASU canβt lose unless Phil doesnβt break 70.β
In Round 3, Mickelson shot 69, but Arizona had a historic round. All five Wildcats broke par: Rudolph at 65, Zerman at 67, Rob McIver at 70 and Furyk and Berganio at 71. It enabled Arizona to take the team lead by six strokes over ASU.
A day later, in the final round, Zermanβs words came true. Mickelson shot 74, and although he won the individual championship β Rudolph was No. 2, seven strokes back β the collective Arizona lineup rose to the occasion and won the national championship.
Zerman and Berganio both shot 70s, Rudolph had 72 and Furyk 73. Arizona won the team title, but not without considerable angst.
βOur lead was down to one stroke at the 14th hole,β said LaRose. βBut after that, our guys responded and overcame the pressure. Berganio made 80 feet of putts on the last three holes. Harry and Manny were clutch down the stretch. If that doesnβt happen, we donβt win.β
Arizona beat ASU by seven strokes and No. 2-ranked Oklahoma State by 15 on a week the field in Albuquerque was stacked with future PGA Tour winners such as Mickelson, David Duval, Justin Leonard, Stewart Cink, Mike Weir and Notah Begay.
βIβve been part of really good teams the last three years,β said Zerman, who grew up playing in South Africa and today is the teaching pro at Miami Shores Country Club. βBut we didnβt win a national championship until my last year. We knew we could, but it took a while to get it all together.β
From 1988-2004, LaRoseβs Wildcats were a constant threat to win The Big One. The Wildcats finished third in 1990, 2000 and 2001, fifth in 1996 and sixth in 1988 and 1989. But the competition was fierce and the β92 team remains Arizonaβs only menβs NCAA golf champion.
Longtime PGA Tour pro Jim Furyk was part of the 1992 University of Arizona championship golf team.
The future was kind to Furyk, who has earned more than $75 million on the PGA Tour with 17 victories, but Rudolph, Zerman and Berganio struggled to make it on the PGA Tour. Berganio had four top-10s, but bounced on and off the tour before losing his playing privileges in the late 1990s. Rudolph, who grew up playing against Mickelson in San Diego-area junior events, never could secure a PGA Tour card; he instead played for a decade on the Nike, Canadian, Asian, Australian and South America tours.
Zerman chose to make a living as a golf instructor.
βThat was a special era,β said LaRose. βWe had 15 years or so we were on the cusp of winning a national championship almost every year, but that β92 team broke through, beating Mickelson and ASU when no one thought we could.β
