Williams goes low to take individual title, lead No. 1 Vanderbilt to team crown in Cabo Collegiate Invitational

   Vanderbilt’s veteran team headed south of the border for the Cabo Collegiate Invitational at the Twin Dolphin Club in Los Cabos, Mexico as the No. 1 team in the Golfstat rankings.

   So it wasn’t a huge surprise that the reigning Southeastern Conference champion Commodores claimed the team title, their fourth straight and fifth overall team crown in the wraparound 2022-2023 season, by 12 shots when the Cabo Collegiate wrapped up Tuesday.

   What might have been at least a little bit surprising was the Vanderbilt player who captured the individual title, five shots clear of a field that included some of the best players in men’s Division I college golf.

   It wasn’t any of the four players in the Vanderbilt starting lineup who appear in the top 50 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), two of whom are in the top seven. No, it was Wells Williams, a freshman from West Point, Miss., who led the way for Vanderbilt, claiming individual honors with a 10-under-par 203 performance over the 7,156-yard, par-71 Twin Dolphin layout.

   And that really is scary.

   But nobody knows better than veteran Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh that national championships aren’t won in March.

   Vanderbilt was ranked No. 3 when it arrived at the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. last spring and got a share of medalist honors in the team standings in qualifying for match play before suffering a 3.5-1.5 loss to eventual national champion Texas in the semifinals.

   All you can do is put your head down and play as well as you can. And right now, nobody is doing that better than Limbaugh’s Commodores.

   Vanderbilt opened up a four-shot lead over SEC rival Mississippi with Sunday’s opening round of 4-under 280. Behind a sizzling 6-under 65 in Monday’s second round from Williams, the Commodores posted an 11-under 273 to widen their lead over Ole Miss to 13 shots.

   Vanderbilt closed with a 3-under 281 for an 18-under 834 total that was 12 shots clear of Ole Miss.

   Williams had matched par in the opening round with a 71 and his 65 in Monday’s second round enabled him to get a share of the lead with teammate Matthew Riedel, a senior from Houston and No. 49 in the WAGR, going into Tuesday’s final round. Riedel had carded a second straight 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round.

   Williams then closed with a 5-under 67 in the final round to finish at 10-under, five shots clear of a trio of players tied for second place.

   It was a big week for Ole Miss, which arrived in Los Cabos ranked 44^th by Golfstat. After matching par in the opening round with a 284, the Rebels registered a 2-under 282 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 4-under 280 that gave them a runnerup finish with a 6-under 846 total.

   Its strong showing in the Cabo Collegiate enabled Ole Miss to jump 20 spots into the Golfstat top 25 at No. 24.

   Ole Miss was led by Brett Schell, a junior from St. Augustine, Fla. who closed with the best individual round of the tournament, a scintillating 8-under 64 that left him among the group of three players that finished in a tie for second place, five shots behind Williams at 5-under 208. Schell had struggled in the opening round with a 5-over 76, but got it going in Monday’s second round with a 3-under 68 to set the stage for his red-hot finish.

   Two teams that joined Vanderbilt in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk last spring and are right behind the Commodores in the rankings, finished in third and fourth place, respectively, in the Cabo Collegiate behind Ole Miss in No. 3 Arizona State, a Pac-12 power, and No. 2 Texas Tech out of the Big 12.

   The Sun Devils, who lost, 3-2, to Texas in the Final Match at Grayhawk last spring, opened with a 4-over 288 at the Twin Dolphin Club, and added a 4-under 280 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 283 to finish five shots behind Ole Miss in third place with a 1-under 851 total.

   Arizona State met Vanderbilt in the final of the East Lake Cup at the end of the fall campaign and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Commodores.

   Texas Tech matched Arizona State’s opening round of 4-over 288, came on strong in Monday’s second round with a 5-under 279 before closing with a 3-over 287 to finish three shots behind the Sun Devils in fourth place with a 2-over 854 total.

   The Red Raiders fell, 3-2, to Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals in the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring.

   Texas Tech had a notable absence from the lineup as Ludvig Aberg, a senior from Sweden and No. 1 in the WAGR, was busy finishing in a tie for 24^th place in the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.

   Aberg, who has been trading the No. 1 spot in the WAGR with Vanderbilt’s Gordon Sargent, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala. who won the NCAA’s individual crown as a freshman last spring at Grayhawk, got a sponsor’s exemption into the API from his performance in last summer’s Palmer Cup, an annual U.S. vs. the World meeting of top college golfers.

   Not only did Aberg make the cut at Bay Hill, he was in contention at one point in Saturday’s third round before finishing with a 2-under 286 total.

   Atlantic Coast Conference power Florida State was another six shots behind Texas Tech in fifth place with an 8-over 860 total as the Seminoles bounced back from an opening round of 10-over 294 with a solid 1-over 285 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 281. Florida State moved up a spot in the Golfstat rankings from No. 9 to No. 8 in the aftermath of the Cabo Collegiate.

   Florida State was led by Frederik Kjettrup, a junior from Denmark and No. 27 in the WAGR. Kjettrup, coming off an individual victory in last month’s Watersound Invitational at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Fla., was part of the trio tied for second place at 5-under.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 71, Kjettrup carded a 2-under 69 in Monday’s second round and finished up with a 4-under 67.

   Texas Tech’s Big 12 rival Baylor and Arizona State’s Pac-12 and in-state rival Arizona finished in a tie for sixth place in the loaded 15-team field, each landing on 19-over 871, 11 shots behind Florida State.

   After opening with a 4-over 288, Baylor struggled a little in Monday’s second round with a 10-over 294 before closing with a 3-over 287. The Bears maintained their No. 23 ranking with their showing in Los Cabos.

   Arizona, which moved up a couple of notches in the Golfstat rankings from No. 19 to No. 17 in the aftermath of the Cabo Collegiate, sandwiched a 5-over 289 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 7-over 291s.

   The Wildcats were led by Chase Sienkiewicz, a senior from Sacramento, Calif. and No. 85 in the WAGR who rounded out the trio tied for second place at 5-under. After opening with a 2-over 73, Sienkiewicz got it going, recording a 3-under 68 in Monday’s second round and finishing up with a 4-under 67.

   Backing up Williams for Vanderbilt was Riedel, who had shared the lead with his teammate going into Tuesday’s final round after posting back-to-back 4-under 68s in the first two rounds. Riedel closed with a 2-over 73 to finish in a tie for fifth place with a 4-under 209 total.

   Sargent, No. 2 in the WAGR, gave Vanderbilt a third finisher in the top seven as he ended up alone in seventh place with a 3-under 210 total. After opening with a 2-under 69, Sargent added a 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Sargent will represent Vanderbilt in The Masters next month as tournament officials extended a special invitation to the NCAA champion.

   Rounding out the Vanderbilt lineup were its two Austin, Texas guys, Reid Davenport, a fifth-year player who is No. 25 in the WAGR, and Cole Sherwood, a junior who is No. 7 in the WAGR.

   After opening with a 3-over 74, Davenport added a steady 1-under 70 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round to finish among the group tied for 15^th place with a 2-over 215 total.

   Sherwood sandwiched a 4-over 75 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 1-over 72s to finish in the group tied for 35^th place with a 6-over 219 total.

   Sharing fifth place with Vanderbilt’s Sargent at 3-under was Arizona State’s Preston Summerhays, a sophomore from Scottsdale, Ariz. and No. 59 in the WAGR.

   Summerhays, winner of the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, bounced back from an opening round of 3-over 74 with a 4-under 67 in Monday’s second round and a final round of 3-under 68.

   Another U.S. Junior Amateur champion, Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen, the winner in 2018 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., finished in a tie for eighth place with Texas Tech’s Matthew Comegys, a freshman from Van Alstyne, Texas, each landing on 2-under 211, a shot behind Vanderbilt’s Sargent.

   Thorbjornsen, a junior from Wellesley, Mass. and No. 3 in the WAGR, bounced back from an opening round of 4-over 75 with a sizzling 6-under 65 in Monday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 71.

   Comegys added a solid 3-under 68 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 1-under 70 before closing with a 2-over 73.

   Summerhays’ Arizona State teammate, Luke Potter, a member of a very talented freshman class throughout the country from Eincinitas, Calif. and No. 82 in the WAGR, gave the Sun Devils a second finisher inside the top 10 as he ended up in a trio of players tied for 10^th place with a 1-under 212 total.

   Potter, a standout on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit before moving on to the collegiate level, posted back-to-back 1-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-over 72.

   Joining Potter at 1-under were Florida State’s Cole Anderson, a redshirt junior from Camden, Maine and No. 69 in the WAGR, and Baylor’s Johnny Keefer, a senior from San Antonio, Texas.

   After opening with a 2-over 73, Anderson matched par in Monday’s second round with a 71 before closing with a 3-under 68. Keefer added a 3-over 74 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 1-under 70 before finishing strong with a 3-under 68.

   Turns out Aberg isn’t the only Texas Tech player to tee it up in a PGA Tour event this spring. In putting together a post on the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate earlier this week, I noticed the absence of Jack Wall from the lineup of South Carolina, which won the team crown.

   Watched Wall and Penn State senior Patrick Sheehan bomb it around Stonewall’s Old Course in a second-round match in the 2019 BMW Philadelphia Amateur and his talent was obvious.

   Wall’s older brother Jeremy would ultimately prevail to become the first repeat Philly Am champion in 25 years that week at Stonewall. But even Jeremy Wall admitted that week that his younger brother was the better player. The Walls are from Brielle, N.J. and play out of the Manasquan River Golf Club.

   Jeremy Wall made that admission on the day when his younger brother was forced to forfeit his quarterfinal match because an overturned dump truck stopped traffic on the Pennsylvania Turnpike during the morning rush. Long story and I’ll refer you to one of my favorite posts on this site titled, “Wall fights through the traffic to return to BMW Philadelphia Amateur final,” under the June 2019 tab.

   I had paid attention to Jack Wall’s progress at South Carolina, so when he didn’t appear on the Gamecocks’ roster, I searched around and found him at Texas Tech.

   The Texas Tech website also informed that Wall had won the 2023 Collegiate Showcase Pro-Am at Riviera Country Club, which earned him a sponsor’s exemption into last month’s Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour later that same week at Riviera.

   Did it in style, too. Wall finished in a tie with Kentucky senior Alex Goff, each matching par with a 71 on the classic Riviera layout. On the second playoff hole, the par-5 11^th, Wall bombed his second shot from 250 yards away onto the green and then drained a 25-foot putt for eagle.

   Wall, listed as a senior at Texas Tech, didn’t embarrass himself in his PGA Tour debut, either. He added a 1-over 72 in the second round to his opening-round 74 for a 4-over 146 that missed the cut. The cut fell at 1-over 143.

   I suspect playing in that kind of environment might give Wall a jolt of confidence. In the Cabo Collegiate, Wall opened with a 1-under 70 and added a 1-over 72 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 2-over 73 to finish among the group tied for 15^th place with a 2-over 215 total.

   So a spot in the starting lineup for the No. 2 team in the country seems like a pretty good place for Wall to be in right in right now.