Cal Tied For Eighth After Day Two At Western Intercollegiate
SANTA CRUZ – Cal (374-380 – 754, +54) is tied for eighth place and all six Golden Bears in the lineup are in the top 50 on the individual leaderboard after two days at the 75th annual Western Intercollegiate presented by Top Golf and hosted by San Jose State at the Pasatiempo Golf Course. Cal closed out its second round Tuesday with four of the six players in its lineup – Sampson Zheng, Aaron Du, Tony Chen and Charlie Berridge – making birdies on the par-three 18th. Zheng's 30-footer highlighted the four birdie putts.
"Thankfully, we were able to make some birdies on the last hole because of a generous hole location," Cal's Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun said. "It was a short iron to the pin located in a bowl, so we could use the contours of the green to get the ball close."
The 18th hole on Tuesday was one of the few generous holes on a golf course that over the last two days has yielded only a single under-par 36-hole individual score to second-round leader Rasmus Hjelm of Colorado State (70-69 – 139, -1), who has a three-stroke advantage over Texas' Pierceson Coody (70-72 – 142, +2) and Pepperdine's Dylan Menante (70-72 – 142, +2). Texas (371-356 – 727, +27) is four strokes ahead of Pepperdine (370-361 – 731, +31) on the team leaderboard with the Longhorns' six-over par round Tuesday the best by any squad in the 14-team field either day.
"Pasatiempo is an incredible golf course in its design," Chun said. "You have to be precise on your approach, and if you're not you'll pay the price. Add windy conditions and fast greens, and now you've got a course that can give a player and a team fits."
Zheng (73-76 – 149, +9) is the top Cal player on the individual leaderboard through two days in a tie for 24th. Du (76-74 – 150, +10) equaled Berridge for Cal's top round of the day at two-over par and is one shot behind Zheng in a tie for 29th place along with Simon Kwon (72-78 – 150, +10), who started Tuesday's second round in a tie for seventh but dropped 22 spots after his round of six-over. Berridge (80-74 – 154, +14) moved up 24 spots after his two-over round into a tie for 43rd along with Tony Chen (76-78 – 154, +14). Ethan Chung (77-78 – 155, +15) is tied for 49th.
Berridge had the only under-par front or back nine of the day for the Bears with a one-under 34 on the back after a five-over par 40 on the front. His four second-round birdies equaled a team-high. Chen also got four birdies but made two double bogeys and eight bogeys with only four pars.
Tuesday's play ended in near full darkness at 8:05 pm PDT with Washington's final two players still on the course.
The 54-hole event concludes Wednesday with the field beginning third-round action from the first and 10th tees at 7:30 am PDT. Cal will start on the 10th hole with Chung the first off the tee at 8:54 am and followed in 12-minute increments by Berridge, Chen, Kwon, Du and Zheng. Washington's final two players will wrap up the 18th hole of their second round at 8:10 am before the Huskies begin their third round at 8:54 am. Golf Channel will resume its live television coverage of the event Wednesday at 1 pm.