The Wolverine

December 2011

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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OLYMPIC SPORTS PROFILES Golfer Matt Thompson Is Stepping Into The Spotlight To characterize Matt Thompson's first three years in the Michigan golf program as productive is an understatement. The senior has been a key contributor for a Wolverines golf team that has made three consecutive NCAA regional ap- pearances, including the program's first- ever regional title in 2010, and has been named PING All-Midwest Region twice along the way. Still, Thompson's laundry list of ac- complishments, including a Michigan single-season-best 72.0 scoring average in 2009, and 14 career top-10 finishes, have been somewhat overshadowed by the successes of former teammates Lion Kim and Alexander Sitompul. With Michigan losing Kim and Sitom- pul to graduation in 2011, Thompson enters his final year as the Maize and Blue's top performer, and only senior. With the No. 1 spot comes added re- sponsibility, which affected the psyche of the typically levelheaded senior early this season. "Our first event of the fall was our home event, and that might have been the one time he put a little bit too much pressure on himself and struggled at times," first-year head coach Chris Whit- ten said. "That also might have been a little bit of a wakeup call for him, that he just needed to keep doing what he's always done." In his attempt to return to the roots of Thompson has 23 top-20 individual finishes in 42 career events. PHOTO COURTESY U-M SPORTS INFORMATION his game, Thompson was able to accom- plish the one thing that had evaded him throughout his collegiate career. On Oct. 17, Thompson turned in a ca- reer-best five-under 65 final round to capture his first career tournament vic- tory, the Windon Memorial Classic at the Evanston Golf Club in Skokie, Ill. "I've been close quite a few times, and when you can't pull it off, you kind of wonder if it's ever going to happen," Thompson said. "Then it all happened so fast that it was hard to realize what was going on; it didn't really sink in until afterwards." Thompson birdied three of the last four holes to clinch a come-from-behind two- stroke victory — a clutch performance that came as no surprise to Whitten. "I think Matt has played his best golf in the most important situations, which is actually pretty tough to find, and it's hard to teach somebody to do that — it's just something he does naturally," Whitten said. While Thompson, who owns a life- time scoring average of 72.91 and has 23 top-20 individual finishes in 42 ca- reer events, was relieved to get his first tournament title out of the way, he is far from content to finish his career with the single victory. "It was nice to get that monkey off of my back, but I still want to win a couple more tournaments, and lead our team to regionals and compete for a Big Ten championship," he said. Regardless of how much hardware Thompson captures in his last few months as a Wolverine, he has already stamped a lasting legacy on the Michi- gan golf program. "I think he's going to go down as one of the best players in the history of the program," Whitten said. — Kevin Minor Sophomore Shaun Bernstein Looking For Greater Singles Success Sophomore Shaun Bernstein and ju- But without King by his side, Bernstein nior Evan King thrived in doubles com- petition during the fall season, post- ing an 8-3 record, including five wins in six regional matches. The success of the duo, both of whom were recently voted co-captains by their teammates, is largely based on a chemistry forged when the two were youngsters dabbling in the initial phases of the amateur ten- nis cycle. "I've known Evan since we were 11 years old, growing up, going through the process," Bernstein said. "We've always talked to each other about what's go- ing on and how you're coping with this problem or how this result has helped. "We both understand each other very well. We use each other to bounce ideas off of or help deal with a particular situ- ation, whether it's taking a bad loss or what to think in a certain situation." 90 THE WOLVERINE DECEMBER 2011 has struggled this year. Coming off of a respectable 22-17 rookie season, the highly touted sophomore posted just one win in seven singles contests this fall. Despite his losing record, the first-time captain does not agonize over losing the confidence of his teammates, and doesn't feel any added pressure to pro- duce on the court because of his newly anointed leadership status. "I think being a team captain is more of a leadership position rather than a results-oriented position," Bernstein said. "I don't feel any pressure to win anymore now, but maybe there's a little more pres- sure to be as good of a leader as I can be, or help the guys as much as possible through tough losses. "We have a young team and there are going to be matches that come down to a couple of the freshmen at the end; you can't win all of those and that can be re- ally tough. The pressure comes in doing my best to help those guys get through those situations." Leading by example becomes easier when positive results on the court be- gin to surface, and Bernstein insists his offseason training, and playing style adjustments, will help him translate his doubles success into the singles game. "Even though the results have not been ideal, I'm trying to do a good job of get- ting ready," Bernstein said. "I'm definitely improved from one year ago, and have put into practice a more all-court style — trying to turn my movement into a weapon. "By the time the spring season comes, I think my game will be where it needs to be at to be successful higher in the lineup." — Kevin Minor

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