NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS

Official Store

    Eric Chun and Northwestern Capture First at NYX Hoosier Invitational
    The senior is on pace to break Luke Donald's school record for single-season stroke average after final round 66
    NUSPORTSDOTCOM
    Eric Chun has two wins and five top-2 finishes during his senior campaign.

    NUSPORTSDOTCOM
    Eric Chun has two wins and five top-2 finishes during his senior campaign.
     NUSPORTSDOTCOM

    April 8, 2012

    NYX Hoosier Invitational Final Results (PDF Format) Get Acrobat Reader

    BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Senior Eric Chun (Ansung City, South Korea/International Christian School) scorched the field in the final round of the NYX Hoosier Invitational Sunday, carding a 5-under 66 to win the individual title and lead the Wildcats to an 11-stroke team victory in the event.

    Chun now has two victories this year, five top-2 finishes and six top-10 results in eight stroke play events. He has vaulted himself into the top-50 in the Golfstat Cup rankings with his scorching play this season.

    For Chun, it marked his ninth-straight stroke play round this spring with an under par total, with each of the last seven being in the 60s. Out of 24 total stroke play rounds for the entire year, 17 have been at par or better for Chun with 12 in the 60s. His current 70.25 stroke average after Sunday is well under Luke Donald's school record of 70.45 set during his NCAA Championship year of 1998-99.

    The Wildcats as a team entered Sunday with a seven-stroke lead, stretching that to an 11-shot margin of victory over second-place IUPUI with a final round 1-under 283 to finish at 11-under 841 (281-277-283). Three Wildcats finished in the top five individually, with sophomore Jack Perry (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) coming in fourth and senior Sam Chien (San Diego, Calif./Mt. Carmel) in a tie for fifth.

    The victory is the third of the season for Northwestern and the 30th for head coach Pat Goss in his 15-year career. NU also won the Big Ten Match Play Championship (for the third-straight year) and the Rice Intercollegiate earlier on during this spring season.

    Chun started his day off well, hitting a good drive at No. 5 and a lob wedge from 60 yards to just past the hole. He jarred the downhill putt for his second birdie of the final round before getting to 3-under with a short birdie putt on No. 8. The senior could seemingly do no wrong on the day, getting to 5-under at No. 15 when his birdie putt from 12 feet horseshoed around the hole and dropped. Chun then made par the rest of the way for his winning total of 9-under 204 (69-69-66), good for a four stroke victory.

    Perry earned his career-best finish with a final round 2-over 73 after carding two rounds in the 60s on Saturday. His Sunday got off to a rough start with a double bogey on No. 3, but he bounced back nicely with two birdies to get back to even. He then would bogey Nos. 7 and 8 before a birdie at No. 9 saw him turn at 1-over after a very eventful front side. He would play the back nine in 1-over, as well, to find him solo fourth after 54 holes at 3-under 211 (69-68-73).

    Chien climbed the leaderboard courtesy of an even-par 71. He made all pars and one bogey through his first seven holes, getting up-and-down nicely on No. 7 after his tee shot on the par-3 hole ended up on the eighth tee. On No. 15, he nearly holed his approach before a tap-in birdie to get to even par despite hitting just four greens to that point. He briefly found red numbers with a birdie from the left rough at No. 17 before giving that stroke back to finish the tournament at 2-under 211 (71-69-71).

    Freshman Bennett Lavin (Deerfield, Ill./Deerfield) earned a top-20 finish at 4-over 217 (73-71-73) after a final round 2-over 73. Junior Nick Losole (Scottsdale, Ariz./Scottsdale Notre Dame) rounded out NU's team lineup in 43rd position following a final round 3-over 74 that put him at 9-over 222 (72-76-74).

    Playing as an individual, freshman Matthew Negri (El Cajon, Calif./Grossmont) earned the first top-20 finish of his career with a 3-over 216 (75-65-76). He tore the course up during Saturday's second round with a career-best and Northwestern-season-best-tying 6-under 65.

    Northwestern returns to action April 14-15 at the Kepler Intercollegiate at Columbus, Ohio.

    ••••••

    Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!