Zheng Atop Leaderboard In Rancho Santa Fe
RANCHO SANTA FE – California senior Sampson Zheng ended the first round of the NCAA Men's Golf Rancho Santa Fe Regional atop the individual leaderboard, highlighting an impressive performance by the No. 22 Golden Bears at The Farms Golf Club on Monday.
Cal, the No. 4 seed in the 14-team regional, finished the first 18 holes in sole possession of third place with an even-par 280. North Florida (-3) and Oklahoma State (-2) – which were grouped with the Bears during the first round – paced the field, while West Virginia (+2) and Oklahoma (+4) rounded out the top five. The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team at the conclusion of the regional will advance to the NCAA Championship, played at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad on May 24-29.
Zheng continued a torrid individual stretch with a 4-under-par 66 on Monday. The senior – who has placed 10th, sixth, fourth and sixth in his past four tournaments since the start of March – started the day with a birdie on hole 10 and rebounded from a bogey on hole 15 by shooting 4 under across the remaining 12 holes, with front-nine birdies on holes 1, 2, 3 and 5.
Among the eight other golfers in the field to shoot under par Monday was Cal freshman Eric Lee, who carded a 2-under 68 to finish in a tie for third individually. The rookie played clean golf for the final 17 holes of his round after a bogey on hole 10; he tallied birdies on holes 11 and 12 before adding another on 3.
Ethan Fang (+3) and Jeewon Park (+3) tied for 31st after shooting 73. Both improved as the round progressed, as they shot 1-over 36s on the front nine.
TEAM LEADERBOARD
| Place | Team | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 1 | North Florida | -3 | 277 | 277 | ||
| 2 | Oklahoma State | -2 | 278 | 278 | ||
| 3 | California | E | 280 | 280 | ||
| 4 | Oklahoma | +4 | 284 | 284 | ||
| T5 | San Diego | +5 | 285 | 285 | ||
| T5 | West Virginia | +5 | 285 | 285 | ||
| 7 | Arizona State | +6 | 286 | 286 | ||
| 8 | Washington | +10 | 290 | 290 | ||
| 9 | South Florida | +13 | 293 | 293 | ||
| 10 | Chattanooga | +14 | 294 | 294 | ||
| 11 | Kansas | +17 | 297 | 297 | ||
| 12 | Wright State | +18 | 298 | 298 | ||
| 13 | Seton Hall | +22 | 302 | 302 | ||
| 14 | Winthrop | +25 | 305 | 305 |
CAL ON INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD
| Place | Name | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| 1 | Sampson Zheng | 66 | 66 (-4) | ||
| T3 | Eric Lee | 68 | 68 (-2) | ||
| T31 | Ethan Fang | 73 | 73 (+3) | ||
| T31 | Jeewon Park | 73 | 73 (+3) | ||
| 72 | Kuangyu (Tony) Chen | 82 | 82 (+12) |
UP NEXT
The Golden Bears will remain grouped with North Florida and Oklahoma State in Tuesday's second round. They'll tee off hole 1 between 8-8:44 a.m. PT. Nathan Wang will be entered into Cal's lineup in place of Kuangyu (Tony) Chen.
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