Men's Golf | March 18, 2019

Senior Justin Suh fired his second 64 of the season to compliment a first-round 66 as he raced to a tournament-leading 14-under 130 while spearheading No. 5 USC to second place after the 36-hole first day of the National Invitational Tournament at OMNI Tucson National on Monday (March 18).
 
The Trojans finished the opening rounds at 27-under 549 (279-270), the latter round USC's third-best of the season. USC trails an even hotter Arizona State squad by six strokes after the Sun Devils posted a 25-under 263 second round. Oklahoma was third at a combined 20-under.
 
Suh, who missed USC's last event while competing as an amateur at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, resumed his play as one of the NCAA's best by going out to a two-stroke lead thanks to 14 birdies and an eagle today, including nine birdies in the second round.
 
His combined 130 is his best back-to-back total since the second and third rounds of the 2018 Pac-12 Championships where he posted a 64 and 65. Suh, seeking his third win this season and ninth of his career, now has 14 rounds in the 60s this year including in seven of his past eight rounds.
 
Sophomore Kaito Onishi put together a strong Monday as well and is tied for 10^th at 6-under 138 (69-69). He had six first-round birdies and three in the second without a bogey as he works toward his fourth top 10 this year.
 
Sophomore Issei Tanabe is tied for 20^th at 3-under 141 (75-66), dropping nine strokes off his opening round thanks to a seven-birdie second-round effort.
 
Freshman Charlie Reiter is tied for 30^th at 2-under 142 (71-71) with a par of sub-par rounds and seven combined birdies. Senior Sam Kim, who led USC in its last outing, is tied for 58^th in the 84-man field at 3-over 147 (73-74).
 
Junior Kyle Suppa, competing in the neighboring individual-only Sonoran Showdown, also at Tucson National, is fifth at 6-under 134 (67-67) in the 21-player field. He had seven birdies and an eagle on Monday.
 
Final round of the team competition starts at 8 a.m. Tuesday while the individual tournament will start at 7:30 a.m.