Bacha helps Auburn climb to top of the leaderboard after three rounds in NCAA Championship at La Costa

 

   With Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Central York, leading the way, defending national champion Auburn climbed to the top of the heap Sunday through three rounds of the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s North Course.

   Bacha, a redshirt senior and No. 20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), carded a solid 3-under-par 69 over the 7,548-yard, par-72 La Costa North Course and was the low Tiger for the day. Bacha’s strong showing enabled him to move into the group tied for 22^nd place in the individual standings at 1-over 217.

   Bacha helped Auburn, a Southeastern Conference representative and the No. 1 team in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings, record a 2-under 286 that left the Tigers at the top of the team leaderboard with a 10-under 854 total.

   The top eight finishers at the end of 72 holes of stroke play Monday will fill out the match-play bracket that will vie for the national championship.

   The Golf Channel cameras will be rolling for a Memorial Day Monday as the NCAA individual champion will also be crowned. There will be a lot going on at La Costa’s North Course.

   Brendan Valdes, a senior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 6 in the WAGR, has been Auburn’s leader over the Memorial Day weekend. He matched par with a 72 in Sunday’s third round and was among a trio of players tied for fourth place in the individual standings with a 5-under 211 total.

   Big 12 representative Arizona State, No. 5 in the Scoreboard rankings, had taken a three-shot lead into Sunday’s third round. The Sun Devils posted a 7-over 295 and fell back to second place with a 6-under 858 total that left them four shots behind Auburn.

   Arizona State’s Connor Williams, a sophomore from Escondido, Calif. and No. 43 in the WAGR, had a share of the individual lead going into Sunday’s third round, but backed off a little with a 3-over 75. Still, Williams was alone in third place in the individual standings with a 6-under 210 total.

   Oklahoma, a new SEC rival of Auburn’s and No. 6 in the Scoreboard rankings, was three shots behind Arizona State in third place with a 3-under 861. The Sooners matched Arizona State’s 7-over 295 in Sunday’s third round.

   Oklahoma was led by Clark Van Gaalen, a freshman from Turlock, Calif. who joined Auburn’s Valdes and Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout, a sophomore from Richardson, Texas and No. 21 in the WAGR, in the trio tied for fourth place at 5-under after signing for a 1-under 71.

   SEC champion Florida, No. 7 in the Scoreboard rankings, was another two shots behind Oklahoma in fourth place and was the last team in red figures for the weekend as the Gators recorded a 4-ovder 291 that left them with a 1-under 863 total.

   Former Big 12 rivals Oklahoma State, No. 2 in the Scoreboard rankings, and Texas, which joined Oklahoma in leaving the Big 12 behind and joining the SEC for the wraparound 2024-2025 season, were tied for fifth place, each ending up six shots behind Florida at 5-over 869.

   The Cowboys, who captured the Big 12 title last month at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., registered a 3-over 291 in Sunday’s third round. The Longhorns, No. 4 in the Scoreboard rankings, carded a 4-over 292.

   Oklahoma State was led by Stout, who captured his second straight Big 12 individual crown at Southern Hills last month. Stout posted a 2-under 70 to move into the tie for fourth place at 5-under.

   Things start getting interesting in the battle for the eight spots in the match-play bracket.

   Atlantic Coast Conference entry Florida State, No. 9 in the Scoreboard rankings, was alone in seventh place at 9-over 873 after struggling a little with a 10-over 298 in Sunday’s third round. The Seminoles lost to Auburn in the Final Match at La Costa a year ago.

   Three teams, SEC powers Mississippi, No. 3 in the Scoreboard rankings, and Texas A&M, the runnerup to Florida in the SEC’s match-play final and No. 11 in the Scoreboard rankings, and the Big 12’s Texas Tech, No. 24 in the Scoreboard rankings, were all tied for that coveted eight spot in the team standings, each sitting at 12-over 876, three shots behind Florida State.

   Ole Miss struggled a little with an 8-over 296 in Sunday’s third round.

   Not struggling for the Rebels was Michael La Sasso, a junior from Raleigh, N.C. and No. 11 in the WAGR as he recorded a 2-over 70 to take over the top spot on the leaderboard in the individual standings with an 11-under 205 total.

   Texas A&M matched par with a solid 288 that enabled the Aggies to move up into the tie for eighth place at 12-over.

   The Aggies’ Phichaksn Maichon, a senior from Thailand and No. 15 in the WAGR, is La Sasso’s closest pursuer in the battle for the NCAA individual crown. Maichon carded a solid 4-under 68 in Sunday’s third round and was two shots behind La Sasso with a 9-under 207 total.

    Texas Tech matched Auburn for the low team round of the day with a 2-under 286 that moved the Red Raiders into the hunt for a spot in the match-play bracket.

   ACC champion Virginia was lurking a shot behind the trio of teams tied for eighth place as the Cavaliers registered a 3-over 291 and were alone in 11^th place with a 13-over 877 total.

   The field for those 30 teams trying to earn a spot in the match-play bracket was to be cut in half Sunday, but it was so contentious that the battle for the 15^th and final team that will still be alive for Monday’s final round will be decided in a playoff Monday morning between a couple of ACC powers, Georgia Tech, No. 26 in the Scoreboard rankings, and Wake Forest, No. 40 in the Scoreboard rankings.

   Both teams landed on 17-over 881 after the Yellow Jackets carded a 6-over 294 and the Demon Deacons recorded a 5-over 293.

  The survivor will still only be five shots behind that trio tied for eighth place, so it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that the survivor of the playoff could get hot and finish among the top eight teams involved in match play.

   Backing up Valdes for Auburn was Jackson Koivun, a sophomore from Chapel Hill, N.C. and No. 2 in the WAGR who was in a large group tied for seventh place in the individual standings with a 4-under 212 total after posting a 1-under 71.

   Koivun, who captured the SEC’s individual title last month at the Sea Island Resort’s Seaside Course on St. Simons Island, Ga., was the consensus player of the year in men’s college golf as a freshman a year ago, winning both the Fred Haskins Award and the Ben Hogan Award while leading the Tigers to the national championship.

   After Bacha in the tie for 22^nd place 1-over, Josiah Gilbert, a sophomore from Millbrook, Ala. and No. 23 in the WAGR, and Cayden Pope, a sophomore from Lexington, Ky., rounded out the Auburn lineup as both were among the group tied for 46^th place at 4-over 220.

   Gilbert and Pope each signed for a 2-over 74 in Sunday’s third round, showing the kind of depth that Auburn possesses. Valdes, Koivun, Bacha and Gilbert were all in the lineup when the Tigers defeated Florida State in the Final Match a year ago.

   Speaking of Florida State, the Seminoles’ Luke Clanton, a junior from Hialeah, Fla. and the No. 1 player in the WAGR, carded a solid 1-under 71 in Sunday’s third round and was alone in ninth place in the individual chase at 3-under 213.