Leon D'Souza 68 Leads USC Men's Golf To Second After Lamkin Invitational First Round
Senior Leon D'Souza fired a season-best 4-under 68 and senior Kaito Onishi joined him in red at 1-under, the duo leading the USC men's golf team into second-place after the first round of the Lamkin San Diego Invitational at the San Diego C.C. in Chula Vista, Calif., on Monday (March 8).
The Trojans, in their fourth event of the season, combined for a 3-under 285 and are two strokes back of co-host San Diego and one better than third-place Colorado.
"I thought we did a really god job staying patient today," Head Coach J.T. Higgins said. "We knew if we could keep it around par through the first 10-11 holes, 12 through 17 was a good stretch where we could make some birdies. The guys did a good job of attacking course.
"It was a fun day. Everyone was in it, which took the pressure off each other, knowing there was a little room for error."
D'Souza, who has yet to finish inside the top 25 this season, is in a four-way tie for second, one back of the lead, following his five-birdie, one-bogey effort. He was even thru seven before birdies on 8, 9 and 11. After a birdie on 12, he got to 4-under with birdies on 15 and 17.
"Leon was outstanding today," Higgins said. "He got off to a good start and really had a chance to go even lower, missing a couple chances. But he still had a fantastic round."
Onishi, who leads the team with two top 20s, is tied for 17th at 1-under. He turned at 2-under, slipped back to even on 16, but closed with a birdie on 18.
Freshman Shane Ffrench and sophomore Tyler Guo are tied for 33rd at 1-over 73 and fifth-year senior Kyle Suppa, in his season debut, is tied for 49th at 2-over 74.