I’ll probably spend most of the spring reporting on events
in the eastern half of the country, so when the Southwestern Invitational
popped up this week with a number of Pac-12 teams, including reigning national
champion Stanford, in the field, I sat up and took notice.
But it wasn’t any of those Pac-12 powers that came out on
top. No, it was the host team, Pepperdine, that earned an impressive 17-shot
victory over Southern California and Arizona State behind individual champion
Sahith Theegala, a redshirt senior from Chino Hills, Calif. and No. 11 in the
World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), in the Southwestern, which wrapped up
Tuesday at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.
And this wasn’t a big shocker, either. The Waves came into
their event as the highest-ranked team in the field, No. 6 in the latest Golfstat
rankings.
They were solid last spring, too, earning a No. 3 seed in
the NCAA Austin Regional and finishing fourth to advance to the NCAA
Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. Joe Highsmith, a
sophomore from Lakewood, Wash., finished fourth in the individual chase at
Austin as a freshman.
Pepperdine never got in the mix to be among the final eight
teams that qualified for match play at The Blessings. But this spring might be
different. In addition to the starting five at North Ranch, three players
competing as individuals, two freshmen and a sophomore, were among the top 15
finishers in the individual chase.
The goal for the Waves might be a little higher than just
getting to the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
this spring.
Pepperdine’s second five would have finished second in the
team standings in the Southwestern. The competition to make the first five at
Pepperdine is going to be as intense as the tournaments themselves.
Daylight is still in short supply in late January, no matter
where you’re playing and Monday’s double-round didn’t quite get completed.
With rounds of 4-under-par 284 and 1-under 287 over the
6,992-yard, par-72 North Ranch layout, the Waves were the only team under par
through two rounds. With Theegala leading the way with a sparkling final round
of 6-under 66, Pepperdine closed with a 9-under 279 for a 14-under 850 total.
Arizona State, ranked 10th, and No. 43 Southern
Cal shared second place, 17 shots behind Pepperdine at 3-over 867.
The Sun Devils, who also reached The Blessings as a team last
spring, were Pepperdine’s closest pursuer after posting rounds of 5-over 293
and 3-over 291 before closing with a solid 5-under 283. The Trojans, an NCAA
Championship qualifier last spring as well, matched Pepperdine’s 9-under 279 in
the final round to move into the tie for second with Arizona State.
Three of the next four chasers in the team standings were also
out of the Pac-12.
No. 34 California, yet another NCAA Championship qualifier
last spring, finished fourth at 8-over 872, five shots behind Arizona State and
Southern Cal. The Cal Bears struggled in the opening round with a 302 before
matching par in the second round at 288 and finishing up with a 6-under 282.
Next, was reigning national champion Stanford, which brings
a No.-27 ranking into the spring portion of the 2019-’20 season and finished
fifth at 12-over 876, four shots behind its neighboring rival Cal. After rounds
of 8-over 296 and 7-over 295, the Cardinal closed with a 3-under 285.
Southeastern Conference power LSU, ranked 29th,
took a trip west and finished in sixth place at 17-over 881, five shots behind
Stanford. The Tigers bounced back from a 304 in the second round by finishing
up with a 3-under 285.
It was another six shots back to yet another Pac-12 entry as
No. 18 UCLA finished seventh in the 12-team field at 23-over 887. The Bruins
closed with a 5-over 293.
Theegala was at 6-under 138 when Monday’s double-round was
finally completed Tuesday morning, which gave him a share of the lead with
Southern Cal’s Leon D’Souza, a junior from Hong Kong. Both players toured North
Ranch in rounds of 2-under 70 and 4-under 68.
Theegala’s final-round 66 gave him the individual title with
a 12-under 204 total, although he had to be good because D’Souza chased him
home with a pretty strong 5-under 67 of his own to finish just a shot back of
Theegala in second place at 11-under 205.
Theegala had won the Southwestern in 2017 and he became just
the third two-time winner of the event, joining UCLA’s Corey Pavin (1979, 1981)
and UTEP’s Dave Bishop (1988, 1991).
Backing up Theegala for the Waves was Joey Vrzila, a junior
from El Cajon, Calif. who finished in a tie for sixth place at 1-under 215.
Vrzila led his teammate Theegala by a shot after an opening round of 3-under 69
before struggling to a 3-over 75 in the second round. But he closed with a
1-under 71 to get it back in red figures for the tournament.
Clay Feagler, a senior form Laguna Niguel, Calif., was a
shot behind Vrzila in a large group tied for eighth place at even-par 216.
Fiegler contributed a strong 3-under 69 to Pepperdine’s blazing final-round
finish.
Highsmith helped Pepperdine get off to a fast start with a
3-under 69 before struggling to rounds of 77 and 74 as he finished among the
group tied for 23rd place at 4-over 220.
Rounding out the starting five for the Waves was Joshua
McCarthy, a senior from Danville, Calif. who finished among the group tied for
29th place at 6-over 222, although his pair of 1-over 73s in the
second and third rounds were both counters, picking up Highsmith.
And, as I mentioned earlier, that starting five is getting
pressured from inside its own golf room.
A couple of freshmen, Dylan Menante of Carlsbad, Calif. and
William Mouw of Chino, Calif. and No. 20 in the WAGR, joined Feagler in the
group tied for eighth place at even-par 216.
After struggling to an opening-round 78, Menante fired a
1-under 71 and a closing 3-under 69. Mouw, a qualifying co-medalist in last
summer’s U.S. Junior Amateur at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, was solid
throughout, opening with a 2-over 74 and adding an even-par 72 before closing
with a 2-under 70.
Derek Hitchner, a sophomore from Minneapolis, finished among
the group tied for 14th place at 1-over 217 as he closed strong with
a 5-under 67 after posing a pair of 3-over 75s in the first two rounds.
Nobody really threatened the top two in the individual
chase, Theegala and D’Souza, but Arizona State’s Chun An Yu, a senior from
Taiwan and No. 3 in the WAGR, finished alone in third place at 5-under 211, six
shots behind D’Souza.
Yu, who finished third in the individual chase in the NCAA
Championship at The Blessings last spring, struggled a little in the opening
round with a 2-over 74, but came on strong with a 4-under 68 in the second
round before closing with a 3-under 69.
California accounted for the next two spots in the
individual standings as Finigan Tilly, a junior from San Carlos, Calif.,
finished fourth at 3-under 213 and Kento Yamawaki, a freshman from Encinitas,
Calif., was another shot behind Tilly in fifth place at 2-under 214.
Tilly climbed the leaderboard with a sizzling 5-under 67 in
the final round while Yamawaki made a big move in the second round with a
6-under 66 before closing with a 2-over 74.
Joining Pepperdine’s Vrzila in the tie for sixth place at
1-under 215 was Stanford’s Ethan Ng, a sophomore from New York City. Ng
struggled to an opening-round 77 before posting a pair of 3-under 69s to get it
to 1-under.
Stanford’s run to the NCAA title last spring at The
Blessings was fueled by a couple of seniors, Brandon Wu and Isaiah Salinda,
both of whom represented the United States in its victory over Great Britain
& Ireland in the Walker Cup Match last summer at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
in Hoylake, England.
Stanford was struggling around this time last year, but got
on a roll that included a Pac-12 team crown that didn’t stop until the Cardinal
was hoisting an NCAA championship trophy at The Blessings. Sleep on Stanford at
your peril.
No comments:
Post a Comment