A Bruin Two-win

Behind medalist Kevin Chappell, UCLA swept the NCAA championships

KEVIN CHAPPELL (below), a UCLA senior from Fresno , stood on the 17th tee at Purdue University 's difficult Kampen course in West Lafayette, Ind. , last Saturday afternoon, his nerves jangling. He knew what he needed to do. If he could go par-par on the final two holes, UCLA would comfortably win the 111th NCAA men's golf championship, and he would win the individual title.

He couldn't make things easy, could he? Chappell, in his words, "hit a big ugly block into the middle of the pond" to the right of the par-3 17th green with a five-iron. "But I did some math and realized that I had blown my cushion, but we were still in good shape," he said. Chappell played another from the tee, missing the green on the windblown 230-yard hole, then chipped in a 22-yard lob wedge shot for bogey. With a solid par on the last, Chappell helped UCLA , under first-year coach Derek Freeman, edge Stanford by a shot for college golf's most prestigious title (the program's second—its first was in 1988). The Bruins finished with a four-round, four-man score of 42-over-par 1,194. Chappell, who will turn pro this summer after the Palmer Cup in Scotland and before the U.S. Amateur, shot 69, 73, 68 and 76, two under par, winning the individual honors by three over Indiana 's Jorge Campillo and Washington 's Nick Taylor.

When longtime UCLA coach O.D. Vincent left for Duke last year, "it kind of sucked," Chappell admitted. "But we rallied around Derek [Vincent's assistant] and lobbied for him, so it worked out well. Coach Vincent was very supportive and rooting for us, but I'm sure he wishes he had stayed around for one more year." Duke was not among the 30 teams in the championship this year.

As for Chappell, in an age when college athletes often leave school early, he knows he made the right move, coming back for one more year, wet ball on 17 and all.