April 25, 2006

DADE CITY, Fla. - Junior Steve Arnold (Langhorne, Pa.) was three under par for 54 holes and led the Wildcats with a tie for eighth place out of 60 golfers at the Big East Championship on Monday and Tuesday. Villanova tied for fifth place out of 12 teams with a two-day score of 879, matching the total of league newcomer Cincinnati.

In the final round of the tournament on Tuesday, the Wildcats turned in a team score of 293 to hold off strong rival St. John's. Arnold was even par with a 72 in today's round and recorded a three-round score of 3-under 213 to be the only Villanova player in the top 10 of the field. Arnold was just one stroke out of seventh place, falling just short of earning All-Big East honors.

Freshman Doug Stadler (Wexford, Pa.) had the low score on the team Tuesday with a round of 1-under 71, and tied for 36th place overall with a total score of 225. Senior captain Jonathan Hewett (Sioux Falls, S.D.) joined Arnold as the only Wildcats to post top-20 finishes. Hewett came in with a 74 in his final round and tied for 17th place with a 54-hole score of 216. He finished at even par for the tournament.

Freshman Andrew Alexander (Rochester, Minn.) carded a 76 to notch the fourth and final counting score for Villanova in Tuesday's round. He finished in 55th place individually, three strokes behind senior Colin Mahon (Rhinebeck, N.Y.). Mahon had a two-day total of 230 and tied for 47th place.

Cincinnati began the day nine strokes behind the Wildcats, but had three of its five golfers shoot even par or better to jump into the tie for fifth place. Villanova and the Bearcats were one stroke ahead of St. John's and 14 strokes behind fourth-place University of South Florida.

Louisville and Notre Dame were tied for the team lead at the end of play on Tuesday, but Fighting Irish golfer Josh Sandman birdied the first sudden-death playoff hole to give Notre Dame the title. The Fighting Irish and Cardinals each had team scores of 842 for the tournament. Derek Fathauer of Louisville won individual medalist honors by three strokes, shooting 14-under-par for the championship.

Villanova wraps up its spring season in successful fashion, placing one spot ahead of its No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. The Wildcats also finished fifth at the Big East Tournament last season, but the size of the field doubled from six to 12 teams this season.

NOTES: Villanova played in six tournaments during the spring season and had an overall record of 71-23-1 (.753) against its competition ... The Wildcats also were 15-5-1 (.738) against Big east opponents this spring, including the fifth-place finish at the conference tournament ... The difference for Villanova from the fall season could be seen in its head-to-head play against St. John's, the team's most common Big East foe in tournaments ... The Red Storm had a 71-stroke advantage over the Wildcats in four tournaments during the fall season, but Villanova defeated St. John's by 32 strokes in four tournaments in the spring ... Arnold was the team's leading scorer for the season, finishing the 2005-06 campaign with a 72.69 stroke average.