CAREFREE, Ariz. - Headlined by individual leader freshman Wenyi Ding, No. 3 ARIZONA STATE climbed to the top of the team leaderboard after 54 holes of the 2024 Pac-12 Men's Golf Championships at Desert Forest Golf Club on Saturday.

 

Four schools and seven players are within five shots of the team and individual leads heading into Sunday's 18-hole finale, setting up a fitting conclusion to the sport's premier collegiate conference dating to its origins in 1960.

 

Ding (2-under 211), the 36-hole co-leader, continued his steady play with a 1-under 71 to grab a one-shot advantage over CALIFORNIA freshman Ethan Fang (1-under 212). Should either hang on for medalist honors, they would be the first freshman to win the Pac-12 title since 2007 (USC's Jamie Lovemark).

 

Ding's round, along with senior Ryggs Johnston's team-leading 2-under 69, helped ASU (30-over 1095) surge in front in its quest for a first Pac-12 title since 2008. Johnston (1-over 214) is tied for third three shots back along with STANFORD's Karl Vilips.

 

No. 21 California (33-over 1098) climbed into contention behind the round-of-the-day from senior Sampson Zheng - a 6-under 65 which catapulted him 27 spots into a tie for fifth and pulled the Golden Bears into a tie for second along with No. 11 WASHINGTON (33-over 1098) three shots back of the host Sun Devils.

 

No. 24 OREGON (35-over 1100) and defending champion Stanford (41-over 1106) are well within striking distance at five and 11 shots back, respectively.

 

Michael Thorbjornsen's six-round stranglehold atop the Championships individual leaderboard ended with a 4-over 75 on Saturday - the Stanford senior is tied for fifth with Zheng and USC sophomore Antonio Safa five shots back at 3-over 216.

 

To put the difficulty of the par-71, 7,203-yard Desert Forest GC into context, this year's winning team score is on pace to be the highest for a league titlist since the Championships record high of 99-over by USC at a wind-blown Wood Ranch Golf Club in 1986.

 

Sunday's final round will begin off split tees at 7:30 a.m. MT, with the awards ceremony tentatively set to begin at 2:30 p.m. MT.

 

Daily 30-minute highlight shows will air on Pac-12 Network at 10:00 a.m. PT the morning following each day of competition.