Suh cruises to individual title and leads Southern Cal to team crown in Pac-12 Championship

   With Justin Suh, a junior from San Jose, Calif., setting a sizzling pace on his way to a four-shot victory in the individual chase, Southern California, No. 19 in the latest Golfstat rankings, held off a charge by No. 43 Colorado to take the team title in the Pac-12 Championship, which concluded Wednesday at Rolling HIills Country Club on Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.

   There’s a lot going on at a Pac-12 Championship, including a format that really tests teams’ depth with five scores counting from six-man teams as opposed to the usual four scores counting from five players. And even though Rolling Hills isn’t far from the Los Angeles-based schools like Southern Cal and UCLA, it has been completely redone and was pretty much a blank canvas until teams got on the course for practice rounds.

   None of which seemed to concern the talented Suh, who started off in a Monday double-round with a 3-under-par 68 over the 7,155-yard, par-71 Rolling Hills layout followed by a scintillating 7-under 64. Suh, the No. 6 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), kept piling it on with a 6-under 65 in Tuesday’s third round before finally cooling off with an even-par 71 in Wednesday’s final round for a 16-under 208 total.

   The Trojans opened with an 8-under 347 and, with Kaito Onishi, a freshman from Bradenton, Fla. matching Suh’s 64, erupted for a 15-under 340 in the afternoon round of the opening day to take control of the team race. They finished it off with a pair of 4-under 351 rounds that enabled them to finish with a 31-under 1,389 total. It was Southern Cal’s 20^th Pac-12 team title, but its first since 2011.

   Colorado was also under par in each round, opening with a 7-under 348, adding a 4-under 351 Monday afternoon and an 8-under 347 in Tuesday’s third round before finishing up with another 8-under 347 for a 27-under 1,393 total. The runnerup finish was the best Colorado has posted in a Pac-12 Championship, but the Buffs could never quite catch up to Southern Cal.

   No. 21 Arizona State, which came on strong after an opening round of 8-over 363, took third at 23-under 1,397, No. 18 Stanford was fourth at 19-under 1,401 and No. 9 California, the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the Golfstat rankings, finished fifth at 16-under 1,404.

   Defending champion Oregon, ranked 30^th, finished 11^th of 12 teams at 15-over 1,435. The Ducks have played on the final day of the Division I season in each of the last two years, winning the national championship on their home track at Eugene Country Club two years ago and falling to Oklahoma in the Final Match last spring at Rich Harvest Farms.

   Of course, Suh didn’t bring the team title home all by himself. He had plenty of support from his youthful teammates, led by Onishi and Cheng Jin, a sophomore from China, both of whom landed in the group tied  for 13^th at 4-under 280.

   Onishi struggled in the opening round with a 4-over 75 before matching Suh with a remarkable 7-under 64 of his own in Monday afternoon’s second round. Jin opened with a 3-under 68 and was steady the rest of the way, matching par in the second and third rounds before finishing up with a 1-under 70.

   Ryan Slater, a redshirt sophomore from Gilroy, Calif., also posted a top-20 finish as he ended up in the group tied for 19^th at 2-under 282. Slater was particularly tough in the double-round on the first day of the tournament, posting a pair of 2-under 69s.

   Issei Tanabe, a freshman from Huntingdon Beach, Calif., picked up the team with a final-round 67 that was the Trojans’ best score of the day and had a lot to do with Southern Cal holding off Colorado.

   Kyle Suppa, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, rounded out the Southern Cal lineup, finishing with the group tied for 58^th at 8-over 292. But Suppa’s pair of opening-day 1-over 72s were both crucial counters.

   The depth of individual talent in the Pac-12 was on display among the top finishers in the individual standings behind Suh.

   Colorado was led by two of the four players who finished tied for second, four shots behind Suh at 12-under 272. Ross Macdonald, a sophomore from Castle Rock, Colo., had four rounds in the 60s, a pair of 2-under 69s in the opening-day double-round and a pair of 4-under 67s in the final two rounds that sparked the late surge by the Buffaloes. Yannik Paul, a senior from Germany, was also never out of the 60s, carding rounds of 68 and 69 in the opening-day double-round, adding another 68 in Tuesday’s third round and matching Macdonald’s final-round 67.

   Rounding out the foursome at 12-under 272 were Washington’s Carl Yuan, a junior from Orlando, Fla., and Arizona’s George Cunningham, a senior from Tucson, Ariz. Yuan started and finished with rounds of 4-under 67 while Cunningham followed up a pair of 67s in the opening-day double-round with a pair of 69s in third and fourth rounds.

   Arizona State’s Koichiro Ishika, a freshman from Japan, made quite a splash in his Pac-12 Championship debut, finishing alone in sixth place at 11-under 273 with four rounds in the 60s, highlighted by a 5-under 66 in Tuesday’s third round.

   California’s Collin Morikawa, a junior from La Canada Flintridge, Calif. and the No. 2 player in the WAGR, is a very familiar figure at the Pac-12 Championship. And Morikawa, one of three U.S. players who went 4-0 in 19-7 victory over Great Britain & Ireland in the Walker Cup Match at Los Angeles Country Club last summer, finished with a flourish, a 5-under 66 that left him alone in seventh at 10-under 274.

   If he gets there, and it’s likely he will, Morikawa will be one of the top contenders for an NCAA individual title at Karsten Creek Golf Club.

   Stanford’s Jeffery Swegle, a senior from West Des Moines, Iowa, and Washington State’s Zach Anderson, a senior from Canada, finished tied for eighth at 9-under 275.

   Swegle actually matched Suh’s blazing opening day with rounds of 67 and 65 that gave him a share of the 36-hole lead with Suh at 10-under 132. He cooled off with a 3-over 74 in the third round before finishing up with a 2-under 69. Anderson also had a 6-under 65 on his ledger in the third round. He finished up with a 1-under 70.

Ryan withstands the weather to claim Junior Tour win at Iron Valley

   The Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour players were smart enough to not pack away their cold-weather gear just yet and they needed it for a stop at Iron Valley Golf Club in Lebanon County Sunday.

   Caleb Ryan, the two-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier from Norristown, made two birdies, one on each side on the tough 6,349-yard, par-72 Iron Valley layout made even tougher by chilly temperatures and gusty winds for a 6-over 78 that gave him the top spot in the 16-to-18 division.

   Ryan, a junior who is home-schooled through Commonwealth Connections Academy, was the Sam Penecale Scoring Average Leader in the 16-to-18 age group for the 2016-’17 Junior Tour campaign.

Blake Stephano, a junior on Radnor’s Central League championship team last fall, was just a shot back in second with a solid 79 in the tough conditions and Calen Sanderson of Skillman, N.J. finished third with an 81.

   Alex Mulrooney of Wilmington, Del. and Benjamin Barnett of Wellsboro shared fourth place, each carding an 82. Brock Fassnacht, the Warwick junior who claimed the PIAA Class AAA East Region title at Golden Oaks Golf Club last fall, and Logan Snyder of Dover shared sixth place at 84.

   Stephen de Brechard of Brooklyn, N.Y. finished eighth at 85, Plymouth-Whitemarsh freshman Dylan Gooneratne, the Graham Company Player of the Year in the 13-to-15 division for the 2016-’17 Junior Tour campaign, was ninth with an 86 and Hunter King of Atglen rounded out the top 10 with an 87.

   James Ulsh of Carlisle matched Ryan’s 6-over 78 to claim top honors in the 13-to-15 division. Ulsh had a pair of birdies to help offset a triple bogey on the 11^th. Win Thomas of Unionville was the runnerup with an 80.

   Derek McGlaughlin of Elizabethtown and Luke Watson of Royersford shared third place, each posting an 81. Benjamin Saggers of West Chester finished alone in in fifth with an 84. Maxwell Wager of State College and Jackson Debusschere of Wallingford finished in a tie for sixth at 88.

   Stephen Butler of Telford and Christian Matt of Springhouse shared eighth place, each posting an 89. Rounding out the top 10 was another representative of Team de Brechard from Brooklyn, Julien, who carded a 93.

   Casey Oppenheimer of Conshohocken was the winner in the girls 16-to-18 division in a match of scorecards with Jessica McClellan of Freeland after each carded an 89. A 41 on the back nine was the difference for Oppenheimer, the 2015-’16 Graham Company Player of the Year in the 16-to-18 division.

   McKylie Boreman of New Cumberland finished third with a 95, Peyton Kraras of Wyomissing was fourth with a 104, Marple Newtown sophomore Gillyoung Koh was fifth with a 106 and Abigail Han of Hummelstown was sixth with a 109.

   The best score of the day among the girls belonged to Jade Gu of Yardley, who won the 13-to-15 division with an 86. It was her third straight Junior Tour win dating back to the start of the wraparound 2017-’18 Junior Tour season last fall. Abigail Lynn of Furlong was the runnerup with an 87.

   Amanda Gerish of Hummelstown finished third with an 88, Paige Richter of Camp Hill was fourth with a 99, Fiona Gooneratne of Plymouth Meeting’s Team Gooneratne, was fifth with a 103 and Riley Mulhern of Downingtown was sixth with a 109.

   John Keba of Emmaus took top honors among the nine-holers in a match of cards with Michael Maslanka of Taylor after each posted a 7-over 43. Keba’s total over the last six holes gave him the tiebreaker edge.

   A third member of Plymouth Meeting’s Team Gooneratne, Rhianna, finished third with a solid 44. Mason Tucker of York finished fourth with a 46, Reed Krosse of York was fifth with a 51, Tyler Debusschere of Wallingford’s Team Debusschere was sixth with a 52 and Elora Walker of Philadelphia was seventh with a 55.

Illinois cruises to Big Ten ttile as Hardy rallies past Penn State's Miller for individual crown

   In the end, it took a tremendous round in difficult conditions on a tough golf course by the No. 13 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) to deny Penn State senior Cole Miller, a Northwestern Lehigh product, a Big Ten individual title.

   Miller, winner of the individual title in the NCAA Washington Regional a year ago, led the Big Ten field by four shots going into Sunday’s final round after adding a 5-under 65 Saturday to his opening-round 68 at Baltimore Country Club’s challenging Five Farms East Course.

   But Illinois’ Nick Hardy, a senior from Northbrook, Ill. who has been nothing but excellent for four years for head coach Mike Small in Champaign, fired a brilliant 3-under 67 over the 7,181-yard, par-70 Five Farms East Course layout in weather that turned cold and windy Sunday to make it eight straight medalists for the premier program in the Big Ten.

   Hardy had respective rounds of 69 and 68 Friday and Saturday and his remarkable final round, three shots better than anyone else in the field could register, gave him a 6-under 204 total.

   Miller, winner of the 2016 Pennsylvania Amateur at Moselem Springs Golf Club, could do no better than a 3-over 73 in the difficult conditions, but was the only other player to end up under par at 4-under 206 for a solid runnerup finish.

   Hardy paved the way for the Fighting Illini, No. 12 in the latest Golfstat rankings, to claim its fourth straight Big Ten title and ninth in 10 years with a 4-under 836 total that was 15 shots clear of the field.

   Illinois’ final round of 7-over 287 was easily the best round of the day, but the Illini took control of the tournament with a remarkable 12-under 268 in Saturday’s second round when the Five Farms East Course was obviously at its most scoreable. Illinois opened with a 1-over 281 and trailed Ohio State by two shots.

   No. 73 Ohio State, making a play for an NCAA regional berth, had a solid runnerup finish at 11-over 851. The Buckeyes struggled in the final round with a 301, but had that 1-under 279 in the opening round that gave them the team lead and followed it up with a strong 9-under 271 in Saturday’s second round that nearly matched Illinois’ 268.

   No. 74 Iowa was another eight shots behind Ohio State in third at 19-over 859 after a final-round 296.

   Miller’s runnerup finish led No. 42 Penn State to a fourth-place finish at 20-over 860. The Nittany Lions opened with a 4-over 284, added a 1-under 279 and struggled along with the rest of the field Sunday with a 297.

   No. 36 Northwestern was another three shots behind Penn State in fifth at 23-over 863 after a final round of 295.

   Hardy led four Illinois players who finished in the top eight in the individual standings. Bryan Baumgarten, a sophomore from Granite Bay, Calif., and Michael Feagles, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz., finished among a group of three players tied for fifth at 2-over 212.

   Baumgarten opened with a 1-under 69, added a 2-over 72 and finished up with a 1-over 71 in Sunday’s tough conditions. Feagles opened and closed with 74s, but erupted for the low round of the tournament, a 6-under 64, in Saturday’s second round.

   Dylan Meyer, a senior from Evansville, Ind. and the No. 5 player in the WAGR, finished in a tie for eighth at 3-over 213. After a pair of 69s, Meyer finished up with a 5-over 75. Meyer won the Big Ten title a year ago at the Five Farms East Course with a 5-under 205 total.

   Giovanni Tadiotto, a sophomore from Belgium, rounded out the Illinois lineup as he finished in the group tied for 22^nd at 217. But Tadiotto contributed a sparkling 3-under 67 to the Illini’s spectacular 12-under second-round team showing.

   Northwestern’s Dylan Wu finished alone in third at even-par 216. Wu opened with a 1-under 79 and added a 2-under 68 before finishing up with a 73. Ohio State’s Will Grimmer, a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, was another shot behind Wu in fourth at 1-over 211. Grimmer opened with an even-par 70 and added a 1-under 69 before posting a solid 2-over 72 in Sunday’s final round. Grimmer earned a share of second a year ago at the Five Farms East Course.

   Sharing fifth with the Illinois duo of Baumgarten and Feagles at 2-over 212 was Maryland’s David Kocher, a senior from Charlotte, N.C. who struggled in Sunday’s final round with a 75 after opening with a 69 and adding a 68 in Saturday’s more benign conditions.

   Iowa’s Benton Weinberg, a sophomore from Potomac, Md., shared eighth place with Illinois’ Meyer at 3-over 213. Weinberg sandwiched a 1-under 69 in Saturday’s second round with a pair of 2-over 72s.

   Ryan Davis, such a key player in Penn State’s run to the NCAA Championship as a freshman a year ago, backed up Miller by finishing in the group tied for 18^th at 6-over 216. The sophomore from Berkeley Heights, N.J. came up big for the Nittany Lions with a 3-under 67 in Saturday’s second round. He opened with a 75 and closed with a 74.

   Alec Bard, a sophomore from New Hartford, N.Y., finished in the group tied for 28^th at 9-over 219 after a solid final-round 73. Charles Huntzinger, a junior from Duluth, Ga., was another shot behind Bard in the group tied for 31^st at 220. Huntzinger opened with a solid 1-over 71, but fell back a little with a 73 in Saturday’s second round and finished up with a 76 Sunday.

   Junior JD Hughes, the Carlisle product, was scheduled to tee it up for Penn State in the Big Ten Championship, but was a last-minute scratch with an injury Friday. Ironically, junior Ryan Dornes, who missed Penn State’s postseason run a year ago with an injury, was called on to replace Hughes, although Dornes, who was on Manheim Township’s 2012 PIAA Class AAA championship team as a sophomore,  didn’t make it to Baltimore until after Friday's first round was under way.

   Dornes’ final-round 75 was a counter for Penn State, but the Nittany Lions had no margin for error with just four players in the opening-round lineup.

   Penn State was coming off a third-place finish in the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at The Ohio State University’s Scarlet Course, which will host one of the six NCAA regionals, last weekend. Purdue, which finished eighth this weekend, but will get a ticket to an NCAA regional, finished ahead of Illinois in the Kepler, but the Illini reasserted their dominance this weekend.

   The NCAA regional bids will be announced Wednesday on The Golf Channel and I expect Greg Nye’s Penn State team to get one. I was a little surprised the Nittany Lions made it last year when they were ranked 50^th going into the Big Ten Championship, but they certainly validated the selection by advancing to the NCAA Championship as a ninth seed in the Washington Regional.

   It was a pretty good week overall for Penn State golf. Junior Cara Basso, who captured the PIAA Class AA title as a sophomore at Villa Maria Academy, received an invitation to compete as an individual in the NCAA Madison Regional. It was a pretty nice consolation prize for Denise St. Pierre’s program, which battled hard, but didn’t quite make the cut for a team berth.

   I’ll have a little more on Basso when I get a chance to evaluate the women’s field sometime before the regionals tee off May 7. But there are a few more men’s conference championships still on the to-do list.