Good Grief

Carrying the weight of recent personal tragedies and his team's expectations, individual champ Kevin Chappell leads UCLA to its first NCAA title in 20 years

Up to the task: Nothing about Chappell's gritty final-round effort on the tough Kampen Course surprised Freeman.

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By Ryan Herrington

Photos By Todd Bennett

June 6, 2008

Divine intervention, gritty determination or just dumb luck. The explanation for how Kevin Chappell's fourth shot on the Kampen Course's treacherous par-3 17th found its way into the hole during the final round of the 111th NCAA Championship—instantly becoming among the most thrilling bogeys in tournament history—may never be known. It wouldn't have surprised anyone to see the UCLA senior come up short with his 35-foot chip, given his prickly position in the rough, or race it past the hole and into the lake to the right of the green, joining the ball Chappell submerged moments earlier with his 5-iron off the tee.

Both images crossed UCLA rookie coach Derek Freeman's mind as his team's best player stood over the shot, the Bruins seemingly about to give away a national title as their eight-stroke back-nine lead was down to one shot. It was at that moment, though, that Freeman remembered just who he was watching.

"The impressive thing about Kevin is that he never, ever gives up," Freeman said afterward. "It's just not in his nature."

Had it been, there were any number of times in the last nine months he might have done so. Last October, less than a week into Chappell's final year of college classes, his older brother, Casey, died unexpectedly at age 24 of complications from diabetes. The two had always been close, Kevin tagging along in elementary school when Casey went with their father, Steve, to Fort Washington G&CC in their hometown of Fresno, Calif. It was during those trips when Kevin, employing a cut-down persimmon wood, saw his passion for the game take root.

With his heart still healing, Chappell was blindsided with more tragedy two months ago: His best friend from high school, Joey Eischen, passed away in his sleep. Chappell again turned to golf for refuge, a place to escape his daily pain if only for a few hours. Now, even his safe haven had been exposed until Chappell took control of his destiny. When the ball trundled into the hole on 17, Kevin's roar was loud enough for everyone—Casey and Joey included—to hear.

He followed the clutch bogey with a sublime par on the 484-yard, par-4 18th (driver center cut, 7-iron from 189 yards to 20 feet, two putts). It gave UCLA a one-shot victory over Stanford and a two-shot triumph over Southern California, earned Chappell the individual title and a national player-of-the-year honor and provided those watching comfort that good things happen to good people, too.

"I'm not sure I could have gone through everything he has and still been so positive," reflected teammate Erik Flores early Saturday evening. "He's preached to us all year, 'We're going to go to nationals and play our asses off and win.' He always believed, and he had more reason than anyone not to."

Said Chappell: "To be honest I don't know how I've done it. I've gotten great support from my teammates. My parents and I stuck together. It really hasn't all sunk in yet."

What's the saying? It's not how, but how many? Even though the Bruins' 42-over 1,194 was the highest winning score since 1977 and the third highest in the 40 years the event has been contested over 72 holes—a tradition that ended last week as the NCAA embarks on a new tournament format in 2009 (see page 113)—the title and trophy were theirs to bring back to Westwood and display beside the school's other NCAA golf championship from 1988.

As the Bruins departed West Lafayette, Ind., they could only wonder if the maintenance crew at the Kampen Course ever found the keys to the riding mowers. Certainly, they had to have been missing for a while seeing how the maniacal rough—ranging in height from 3½ inches just off the fairway to tall enough to ride a roller coaster in some spots—seemingly hadn't been cut in weeks.