Behind Lin, Southern California edges Texas by two shots to claim team crown in Southern Highlands Collegiate

   While many of the top teams in Division I men’s golf were teeing it up in the Cabo Collegiate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this week, there was a pretty dazzling field battling it out in another renowned resort town as the Southern Highlands Collegiate was being contested at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev.

   You could make the same argument at both events that many of the teams you were looking at were likely to be in the desert Southwest in a couple of months competing in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

   At Southern Highlands, a Southern California team that had been pretty quiet during the fall portion of the wraparound 2019-2020 season came alive and claimed a two-shot victory over Texas, which reached the Final Match before falling to Stanford in last spring’s NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark.

   The Golfstat rankings have changed in the 24 hours since the Southern Highlands Collegiate wrapped up Tuesday, so I’ll try to work in some before and after references wherever possible. Probably the biggest move as made by the Trojans, a perennial Pac-12 power who came to Las Vegas ranked 36^th. Southern Cal, 36^th? Seriously?

   Well, by Wednesday morning Southern Cal was up to 27^th and it will undoubtedly get a big confidence boost from its performance at Southern Highlands.

   Led by Yuxin Lin, a freshman from China and a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, Southern Cal opened with a 1-under-par 287 over the challenging 7,374-yard, par-72 Southern Highlands layout in Sunday’s first round.

   The Trojans built a nine-shot lead over perennial Big 12 power Texas after adding a 5-under 283 in Monday’s second round. Southern Cal closed with a 3-over 291 for a 3-under 861 total.

   Texas came to Las Vegas ranked eighth and improved two spots to sixth after its runnerup performance. Behind sophomore Parker Coody, one of the twin grandsons of 1971 Masters champion Charles Coody on the Texas roster out of Plano, Texas, the Longhorns opened with a 4-over 292 and added a 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round. They closed with a solid 5-under 283, but came up two shots shy of Southern Cal at 1-under 863.

   Coody fired a brilliant 5-under 67 in Tuesday’s final round to make up seven shots on Lin as they finished tied atop the individual standings at 8-under 208. Coody then captured the individual title in a playoff.

   Lin’s victory in the 2017 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship earned him a spot in the 2018 Masters and the Open Championship at Carnoustie. He claimed his second Asia-Pacific Amateur title in September at Sheshan International in Shanghai, which means Lin will once again be headed to Magnolia Lane next month and will tee it up in this summer’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s. The kid doesn’t turn 20 until October.

   Texas’ Big 12 rival Texas Tech had the best team round of the tournament in Tuesday’s final round, a 7-under 281 that enabled the Red Raiders to finish a shot behind the Longhorns in third place at even-par 864. Texas Tech saw its ranking get bumped up from No. 5 to No. 4 with its showing at Southern Highlands.

   Southeastern Conference power Florida finished up with a solid 1-under 287 in the final round as the Gators ended up alone in fourth place at 6-over 870, six shots behind Texas Tech. The Gators saw their ranking improve from 26^th to 23^rd with their solid showing in Las Vegas.

   Pepperdine, which had risen to No. 1 in the rankings with a couple of tournament wins early in the spring portion of the 2019-’20 season, shared fifth place with Southern Cal’s Pac-12 rival UCLA at 9-over 873, three shots behind Florida.

   The Wave, which retained its hold on Golfstat’s No.-1 ranking, got off to a tough start with a 304, but bounced back with a 5-under 283 in Monday’s second round and a 2-under 286 in Tuesday’s final round. After a pair of 5-over 293s, the Bruins closed with a 1-under 287. They moved up a spot in the rankings from No. 22 to No. 21.

   Another Big 12 power, Oklahoma, was a shot behind Pepperdine and UCLA in seventh place in the elite 15-team field at 10-over 874 as the Sooners, who began and ended the week at No. 2, closed with a solid 4-under 284.

   Lin had dominated Southern Highlands to the tune of a pair of 5-under 67s in the first and second rounds that gave him a five-shot edge on the field before he closed with a 2-over 74 to finish tied atop the individual leaderboard with Parker Coody at 8-under 208.

   Backing up Lin for the Trojans was Issei Tanabe, a junior from Huntingdon Beach, Calif. who was Southern Cal’s medalist in the final round with a 3-under 69 that enabled him to finish among a trio of players tied for ninth place at 2-under 214.

   Cameron Henry, a sophomore from Los Gatos, Calif., was solid in the first two rounds, matching par in the opening round and carding a 2-under 70 in Monday’s second round. He struggled to a final-round 77 that left him alone in 25^th place at 3-over 219. Still, that 77 turned out to be a crucial counter for the winners.

   Kaito Onishi, a junior from Bradenton, Fla., struggled in the first two rounds, but delivered a crucial 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s final round that left him in the group tied for 43^rd place at 7-over 223. Like Henry’s final-round 77, Onishi’s opening-round 77 was an important counter.

   Rounding out the Southern Cal lineup was Leon D’Souza, a junior from Hong Kong whose 79s in the first round and the final round were throw-outs. But he contributed a key even-par 72 in Monday’s second round as he finished among the group tied for 67^th place at 230.

They took turns picking each other up. It’s what team golf is all about.

   Parker Coody trailed Lin by seven shots after adding a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 73 before catching him with his final-round 67.

   I’m sure Texas, the runnerup to Pepperdine in the birdie-fest that was The Amer Ari Invitational in Hawaii last month, took heart in that it got a runnerup finish despite some struggles from its best player Cole Hammer, a sophomore from Houston and No. 6 in the WAGR, and freshman phenom Travis Vick, another Houstonian. Hammer and Vick both landed in the group tied for 38^th place at 6-over 222.

   Lining up behind Parker Coody and Lin in the individual standings was a fairly spectacular array of talent.

   Finishing alone in third place, a shot out of the playoff at 7-under 209, was UCLA junior Devon Bling, the runnerup to Viktor Hovland in the 2018 U.S. Amateur at the Pebble Beach Golf Links out of Ridgecrest, Calif. Bling sandwiched a 73 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 4-under 68s.

   Pepperdine’s Sabith Theegala, a redshirt senior from Chino Hills, Calif. who has risen to No. 4 in the WAGR, and SMU’s Mac Meissner, a junior from San Antonio, Texas and No. 46 in the WAGR, finished in a tie for fourth place at 6-under 210.

   Theegala, a big part in the Wave’s rise to No. 1 in the country, struggled to a 76 in the opening round, but followed it up with the best round of the tournament, a sizzling 7-under 65 in the second round. He closed with a 3-under 69.

   Meissner was the runaway winner of the individdual title in The American Championship at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla. last spring and proceeded to help the Mustangs survive a playoff to reach match play in the NCAA Championship at The Blessings. It was nice bit of golf cred for the American Athletic Conference.

   Meissner was steady all week, opening with a 1-under 71 and adding a 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.

   Georgia’s Davis Thompson, a junior from Auburn, Ala. and No. 7 in the WAGR, and Florida’s Ricky Castillo, a talented freshman from Yorba Linda, Calif. and No. 2 in the WAGR, shared sixth place, each landing on 5-under 211.

   Thompson led the host Bulldogs to the team title in NCAA Athens Regional last spring by winning the individual title. He opened with a 5-under 67 at Southern Highlands, backed off with a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round, but bounced back with a closing 69.

   Castillo, who lit up the Mark Bostick Golf Course in leading Florida to the team crown in the Florida Gators Invitational last month, was Lin’s closest pursuer after adding a 4-under 68 to his opening-round 71 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, a freshman from Sweden and No. 40 in the WAGR, finished alone in eighth place at 4-under 212, a shot behind Thompson and Castillo. After opening with a 73, Aberg carded a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 71.

   Joining Southern Cal’s Tanabe in the foursome tied for ninth place at 2-under 214 were UCF’s Johnny Travale, a sophomore from Canada, Florida’s John Axelson, a junior from Denmark and No. 25 in the WAGR, and Duke’s Evan Katz, a junior from Washington, D.C.

   Travale made a big move up the leaderboard with a sparkling final round of 5-under 67. After opening with a 74, Axelson carded a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 3-under 69.

   Katz opened with a 71 and added a 73 in Monday’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 70.