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University of North Carolina Athletics
Former Tar Heel Mark Wilson Wins Humana Challenge
January 23, 2012 | Men's Golf
Jan. 23, 2012
LA QUINTA, CALIF.
Listen to Mark Wilson's press conference after winning the Humana Challenge
Former Tar Heel golfer Mark Wilson (1994-97) sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to grab a 2-stroke win over Robert Garrigus, John Mallinger and Johnson Wagner at the Humana Challenge. Wilson fired a 24-under-par total 264 with rounds of 66-62-67-69.
Wilson endured a long day as he had an early tee time to complete his third round which was delayed due to wind. He then returned to his in-laws home where he helped get the kids ready for daycare before returning for his final round which concluded after sunset at the Palmer Private Course at PGA West. As the sun went down and the weather cooled, everyone else was putting on their sweaters, but Wilson just blew into his hands to warm them up and continued in his short-sleeved shirt just as he had all day.
"It's a feel thing," Wilson said. "I've been playing with short sleeves all day. I didn't just want to put it on and get a new feeling, because everything was going well.
After earlier watching his three-stroke lead dwindle, Wilson turned the heat on during the final nine holes. He tapped in a 9-inch putt for his first birdie of the round at No. 11 and holed a bunker shot for another birdie at No. 12. Wilson then sank a birdie putt at the 16th hole, as did Garrigus. Garrigus then had a 28-footer for eagle at No. 18 that would have given him the lead, but he barely missed the putt and then Wilson sank his 10-footer for birdie and the 2-stroke win.
"Robert and I, going back and forth, we really enjoyed that," Wilson said after the win. "It just came down to 18, and I didn't want to give him a chance to make that putt to tie me. That's what we play for. You want somebody to win it, not necessarily to lose it."
This marks Wilson first win in 2012 and his third since the start of the 2011 season. He won two tournaments near the start of last season, the Sony Open and the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Wilson is just one of two players, the other being Steve Stricker, who has picked up three PGA Tour wins in the last 12 months.
In addition to those three wins, Wilson won the 2007 Honda Classic and the 2009 Mayakaba Golf Classic in Mexico. Wilson was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer at Carolina in 1996 and 1997 and was also honorable mention All-America those same two years. He won the 1996 ACC Championship and was the 1996 Ben Hogan Award winner based on his academic and athletic excellence.
