Arizona State claims top seed in match play in NCAA Championship; Ole Miss' La Sasso captures individual crown

 

   With U.S. Amateur champion Josele Ballester leading the way, Arizona State made one final push Monday to finish at the top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of 72 holes of qualifying for match play in the NCAA Championship at the Omni Resort & Spa’s North Course in Carlsbad, Calif.

   Ballester, a senior from Spain and No. 7 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), closed with a sparkling 4-under-par 68 over the 7,548-yard, par-72 La Costa North Course layout that enabled him to finish in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings with a 6-under 282 total.

   Arizona State, a Big 12 representative and No. 5 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, had entered a Memorial Day Monday trailing defending national champion Auburn, a Southeastern Conference power and No. 1 in the Scoreboard rankings, by four shots in the battle for the top seed in the match-play bracket.

   But the Sun Devils matched the low team round of the day with an 8-under 280 that enabled them to overtake Auburn and finish at the top of the heap after four days of stroke play along the California coast with a 14-under 1,138 total.

   The fun really begins Tuesday as four quarterfinal matches will be teeing off as I finish up this post to be followed by a pair of semifinals in the afternoon. There is never any shortage of drama on quarterfinal/semifinal day at the NCAA Championship and this year will be no exception.

   The luck of the draw left Arizona State with a quarterfinal match against another SEC power in Mississippi, No. 3 in the Scoreboard rankings. Ole Miss closed with a 1-under 287 to grab the eighth and final spot in the match-play bracket with an 11-over 1,163 total.

   The Rebels edged last year’s NCAA Championship runnerup, Florida State, an Atlantic Coast Conference power and No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings, by a shot to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.

   The Ole Miss lineup will include the NCAA individual champion in Michael La Sasso, a junior from Raleigh, N.C. and No. 11 in the WAGR. La Sasso had entered Monday’s final round with a two-shot lead over Texas A&M’s Phichaksn Maichon, a senior from Thailand and No. 15 in the WAGR.

   Starting off the 10^th tee, La Sasso, whose college journey began with his hometown North Carolina State program, birdied his first two holes to get it to 13-under.

   But he hit a rough patch on La Costa North’s incoming nine as he made a bogey at the 13^th hole and a double bogey at 15. He seemingly righted the ship with a birdie at the 16^th hole, but then made another double bogey at 17. He was 9-under and was suddenly trailing Maichon.

   But La Sasso settled down, going 2-under the rest of the way with eight pars and birdies at the fourth and sixth holes. It added up to an even-par 72 and a 72-hole total of 11-under 277.

   Maichon also matched par in the final round with a 72 and earned runnerup honors with a 9-under 279 total.

   Auburn put together a solid final round of 2-under 286 to finish two shots behind Arizona State in second place with a 12-under 1,140 total.

   The Tigers will begin their bid to repeat as the national champion as the two seed and will face ACC champion Virginia, No. 10 in the Scoreboard rankings, as the Cavaliers closed with a solid 4-under 284 to finish in seventh place with a 9-over 1,161 total.

   Auburn was led by Jackson Koivun, a sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 2 in the WAGR who took a run at the leaders before closing with a 2-under 70 that left him in a tie for fourth place with Arizona State’s Ballester at 6-under.

   SEC champion Florida, No. 7 in the WAGR, matched Arizona State for the low round of the day Monday with an 8-under 280 that left the Gators three shots behind their SEC rival Auburn in third place with a 9-under 1,143 total.

   Florida will meet its new SEC rival Texas, No. 4 in the Scoreboard rankings, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals as the Longhorns matched par in the final round with a 288 to nail down sixth place in the team standings with a 5-over 1,157 total.

   Oklahoma, like Texas, left the Big 12 behind for the SEC for the wraparound 2024-2025 season. But if the Sooners thought they were leaving behind their ancient in-state and former Big 12 rival Oklahoma State, the golf gods conspired for a little “not so fast, my friends” in the words of retiring College Game Day analyst Lee Corso.

   Oklahoma State, the Big 12 champion and No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings, closed with a 2-under 282 to take fourth place with a 1-under 1,151 total, and Oklahoma, No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings, closed with a 3-over 291 to finish in fifth place, a shot behind the Cowboys with an even-par 1,152 total.

   As a result, two of the very best programs in college golf will meet in the juiciest of Tuesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   Oklahoma State was led by its outstanding sophomore, Preston Stout of Richardson, Texas and No. 21 in the WAGR. Already a two-time Big 12 individual champion, Stout closed with his third straight 2-under 70 Monday that left him with a 7-under 209 total and two shots behind Texas A&M’s Maichon in third place in the individual standings.

   Arizona State had three players who finished inside the top 10 in its run to the top seed in match play.

   Backing up Ballester for the Sun Devils was Connor Williams, a sophomore from Escondido, Calif. and No. 43 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for seventh place with a 4-under 284 total.

   Williams had a share of the individual lead with La Sasso following Saturday’s second round, but backed off in the final two rounds, following up a 3-over 75 in Sunday’s third round with a 2-over 74 in Monday’s final round.

   Preston Summerhays, a senior from the golfing Summerhays family of Scottsdale, Ariz. and No. 14 in the WAGR, shared low-Sun Devil honors with Ballester in Monday’s final round with a sparkling 4-under 68 of his own as he finished among the group tied for ninth place at 3-under 285.

   Michael Mjaaseth, a junior from Norway and No. 40 in the WAGR, closed with his second straight 1-over 73 for Ariona State to finish in the group tied for 50^th place with a 6-over 294 total.

   Arizona State head coach Matt Thurmond made an interesting move for Monday’s final round, going to his bench and inserting Fifa Laopakdee, a senior from Thailand and No. 96 in the WAGR, into the lineup in place of Peer Wernicke, a freshman from Germany and No. 83 in the WAGR who played the first three rounds, struggling a little with a 6-over 78 in Sunday’s third round.

   Laopakdee responded with a counting 1-under 71. It will be interesting to see who is in the lineup when the Sun Devils take on Ole Miss in Tuesday morning’s quarterfinals.

   Nice to have the luxury of swapping out one player in the top 100 in the WAGR for another player in the top 100 in the WAGR.

   You can count on redshirt senior Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York and No. 20 in the WAGR, being in the lineup as Auburn begins its quest for a second straight national championship against Virginia Tuesday morning.

   Bacha closed with a 4-over 76 Monday to finish among the group tied for 44^th place with a 5-over 293 total. The kid from York has been a central figure in this golden age of Auburn golf.