Four Pac-12 men’s golf teams compete for NCAA Title
SAN FRANCISCO-- Four Pac-12 Conference men’s golf teams and two individuals will be in action this week as the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships get underway May 24-29 at Blessings Golf Club (7,550 yards/Par 72) in Fayetteville, Ark. Representing the Pac-12 will be ARIZONA STATE, CALIFORNIA, STANFORD and USC, as well as OREGON’s Edwin Yi and UTAH’s Kyler Dunkle.
While the individual champion will be decided during the four days of stroke-play competition from May 24-27, the top eight teams after four days will participate in a match-play format on May 28-29 to determine the NCAA Champion. Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com
ARIZONA STATE – The Sun Devils advance to the NCAA Championships after finishing tied for second at the Stanford Regional. This will be Arizona State’s 55th appearance at the NCAA Championships, third most behind Oklahoma State (72), Texas (65) and USC (58). The Sun Devils have finished third or better nine times, including a pair of NCAA team titles in 1990 and 1996. All-Pac-12 first team performers junior Chun An Yu (68.84) and sophomore Mason Andersen (70.59) lead a senior-less Sun Devil lineup. Cameron Sisk (70.86) was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, while Matt Thurmond was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year. More impressive than the expected lineup’s scoring average is their grade point average – An Yu (3.01 GPA), Alex del Rey (3.09 GPA), Andersen (3.20 GPA), Sisk (3.46 GPA) and Blake Wagoner (3.64 GPA).
CALIFORNIA – The Golden Bears advance to the NCAA Championships after finishing fourth at the Myrtle Beach Regional. This will be Cal’s 14th appearance at the NCAA Championships and have one title to its resume in 2004. Collin Morikawa (68.65), the Pac-12 Golfer of the Year, has posted par or better in 29 of 34 rounds this season and finished among the top five in nine of 11 events. He’s claimed top honors at the Farms Invitational (-13) and the Pac-12 Championships (-12). He’s currently ranked No. 3 by Golfstat, Golfweek/Sagarin and in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Sebastian Crampton (70.85) has four top-four finishes this season, including a win at the Ka’anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational (-17). The three seniors in Cal's expected lineup for the NCAA Championships (Morikawa, Crampton, KK Limbhasut) have combined career totals of 10 victories, 145 events and 455 rounds.
STANFORD – The Cardinal are on a roll after capturing the team title at the Stanford Regional, besting the field by 12 strokes to post its sixth NCAA Regional crown. It’s the fourth consecutive win in as many events for Stanford, which included the Pac-12 title - its 11th Pac-12 title and fourth in the last six years. This will be Stanford’s 53rd appearance at the NCAA Championships and have claimed eight NCAA titles (1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953, 1994, 2007). All-Pac-12 first team selections Brandon Wu (69.97) and Isaiah Salinda (70.68) look to pace the Cardinal in search of its ninth NCAA title. Salinda has earned medalist honors in two of the last three events, including the NCAA Stanford Regional (-10).
USC – The Trojans were the fifth team to advance out of the Austin Regional and will be making their 58th appearance at the NCAA Championships. While USC has finished runner-up once and third seven times, it is in search of its first team title. Senior Justin Suh (69.12) is currently ranked No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and No. 4 by Golfstat and Golfweek/Sagarin. Suh has won twice this season and has finished fourth or better four additional times. He’s posted par or better in 28 of 33 rounds this season on the way to being named a three-time first team All-Pac-12 selection. Sophomore Kaito Onishi (71.09) also garnered first team All-Pac-12 honors.
INDIVIDUAL –Utah senior Kyler Dunkle (70.93 avg) was the low individual not on an advancing team to come out of the Stanford Regional. Dunkle finished tied for sixth at 6-under 204 (69-67-68). Dunkle earned second team All-Pac-12 honors after he finished runner-up at the Pac-12 Championships where he carded an 8-under 276 (70-64-69-73). Oregon senior Edwin Yi (71.21 avg), also a second team All-Pac-12 honoree, was the top-scoring individual not on advancing team out of the Myrtle Beach Regional where he posted a 14-under 202 (69-67-66) to finish second overall. It was the third time this season he posted 69 or better in all three rounds.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to the finals, which will be held May 24-29, at Blessing Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. (University of Arkansas, host).
Team Rankings: The latest Golfweek Top 25 includes No. 2 Arizona State, No. 9 California, No. 10 USC and No. 12 Stanford … Arizona State and Stanford are two of eight teams to have both its men’s and women’s teams competing at the NCAA Championships.
Conference of Champions: The Pac-12 Conference has claimed 15 NCAA team titles and produced 18 NCAA individual champions. Since 2003, the Pac-12 has netted four team champions (2004 - California; 2007 - Stanford; 2008 – UCLA; 2016 - Oregon) and seven individual champions (2003 - Alejandro Canizares, ASU; 2005 - James Lepp, WASH; 2007 - Jamie Lovemark, USC; 2008 - Kevin Chappell, UCLA; 2013 - Max Homa, CAL; 2014 – Cameron Wilson, STAN; 2016 – Aaron Wise, ORE).
Hogan Award Finalist: California’s Collin Morikawa is one of three finalists for the Ben Hogan Award. A Pac-12 golfer has claimed the award in six of the last seven years. The last five Pac-12 individuals to honored were Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, 2012), Chris Williams (Washington, 2013), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, 2014), Jon Rahm (Arizona State, 2015 and 2016), and Maverick McNealy (Stanford, 2017).
Palmer Cup: Three Pac-12 golfers were tabbed to participate in the 2019 Palmer Cup. Stanford’s Brandon Wu will represent the United States, while the Arizona State duo of Chun An Yu and Alex del Rey will represent the International team. The annual Ryder Cup-style competition will be played June 7-9 at the Alotian Club, Roland, Ark.
Pac-12 in the PGA: Former Pac-12 golfers have had good success on the PGA Tour this season. Seven former Pac-12 golfers have combined to win eight events, including an impressive run of four in a row – Stanford’s Tiger Woods (The Masters), Washington’s C.T. Pan (HBC Heritage), Arizona State’s Jon Rahm (Zurich Classic) and California’s Max Homa (Wells Fargo Championship). Also posting victories this season were Arizona State’s Phil Mickleson (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am), USC’s Martin Trainer (Puerto Rico Open), Arizona State’s Paul Casey (Valspar Championship), and Rahm added a win earlier in the season (Hero World Challenge). In addition, UCLA’s Scott McCarron (Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Insperity Invitational) and Tom Pernice Jr. (Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge) have won three events on the Champions Tour.
2019 Pac-12 Championship Results
April 22-24, Eugene Country Club – Eugene, Ore.
Final Team Results (Par 71, 7,044 yards)
Conditions: Sunny, 57 degrees, winds NNW 14 mph
1. Stanford....................................... 359-346-349-359 — 1413 (-7)
2. UCLA........................................... 353-352-348-367 — 1420 (E)
3. California..................................... 357-350-343-371 — 1421 (+1)
4. Arizona State............................... 369-354-356-364 — 1443 (+23)
T5. Oregon...................................... 364-353-353-377 — 1451 (+31)
T5. Utah.......................................... 365-351-363-372 — 1451 (+31)
7. USC............................................. 359-354-360-379 — 1452 (+32)
8. Washington.................................. 362-364-363-375 — 1464 (+44)
9. Arizona........................................ 367-364-356-383 — 1470 (+50)
10. Colorado.................................... 358-359-377-386 — 1480 (+29)
11. Oregon State............................. 381-355-377-380 — 1493 (+48)
12. Washington State....................... 382-375-384-400 — 1541 (+76)
Final Individual Results (Par 71, 7,044 yards)
1. Collin Morikawa, CAL................... 68-70-64-70—272 (-12)
2. Kyler Dunkle, UTAH.................... 70-64-69-73—276 (-8)
3. Cole Madey, UCLA...................... 67-69-69-74—279 (-5)
4. Justin Suh, USC........................... 69-65-71-75—280 (-4)
5. Isaiah Salinda, STAN................... 76-66-69-70—281 (-3)
6. Devon Bling, UCLA...................... 70-73-67-72—282 (-2)
T7. Brandon Wu, STAN................... 70-70-70-73—283(-1)
T7. Eddy Lai, UCLA......................... 72-70-67-74—283 (-1)
T7. Daulet Tuleubayev, STAN.......... 67-70-74-72—283 (-1)
T10. Ryan Gronlund, ORE................ 73-73-67-71—284 (E)
T10. David Snyder, STAN................ 71-74-68-71—284 (E)
All-Pac-12 First Team
Chun An Yu, Jr., Arizona State
Mason Andersen, So., Arizona State
Sebastian Crampton, RSr., California
Collin Morikawa, Sr., California
Kaito Onishi, So., USC
Isaiah Salinda, Sr., Stanford
Justin Suh, Sr., USC
Brandon Wu, Sr., Stanford
All-Pac-12 Second Team
Alex del Rey, Jr., Arizona State
Kyle Dunkle, Sr., Utah
KK Limbhasut, Sr., California
Cole Madey, Sr., UCLA
David Snyder, Jr., Stanford
Blake Wagoner, Jr., Arizona State
Trevor Werbylo, So., Arizona
Edwin Yi, Sr., Oregon
Honorable Mention: Devon Bling, So., UCLA; Ryan Gronlund, RSr., Oregon; Eddy Lai, So., UCLA; Issei Tanabe, So., USC; Daulet Tuleubayev, Fr., Stanford; Spencer Tibbits, So., Oregon State.
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team
Yin Ho Yue, Arizona State
Sean Kato, Oregon State
Sean Maruyama, UCLA
Cameron Sisk, Arizona State
James Song, California
Honorable Mention: Charlie Reiter, USC; Craig Ronne, ORE; Daulet Tulebayev, Stanford
Pac-12 Player of the Year: Collin Morikawa, California
Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Cameron Sisk, Arizona State
Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Matt Thurmond, Arizona State
Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Justin Suh, USC
FUTURE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Arizona State will host the next three NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships (2020, 2021, 2022) at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.