Cal Freshman Zigin Zhou Ties for 22nd at NCAA Golf

Cal freshman Zigin (Eric) Zhou’s final round at the NCAA golf championships on Monday began with promise after he eagled the 10th hole at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.

But Zhou’s great start did not lead to a magical finish. He shot a final-round 1-over 73 and wound up in a five-way tie for 22nd place.

A native of Shenzhen, China, Zhou was tied for 12th place after carding a bogey-free, 4-under 68 on Saturday. But he posted a 72 on Sunday to slip six spots to 18th entering the final round.

Cal was sidelined from the team competition after playing 54 holes through Sunday. The Bears finished 17th in the team competition at 20 over par, falling just short of advancing the final day of qualifying for match play.

But Zhou, by virtue of assembling one of the top 15 scores through three rounds, advanced to Monday’s final round of individual play.

He eagled the 596-yard, par-5 10th hole and had a pair of birdies. But he also had three bogeys and a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 seventh hole. 

Zhou’s finish was the best by a Cal player at the NCAAs since Collin Morikawa tied for eighth as a senior in 2019. Morikawa was 10th as a freshman in 2016.

Zhou was Cal’s top finisher at the NCAA Regionals at Reno, finishing in a tie for 17th place with teammate Charlie Berridge at plus-1. 

He shot a 64 in the second round of the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz last month, missing tournament record by one stroke in the 78-year-old event.

Ole Miss junior Michael La Sasso, the fourth-ranked player in college golf,  won NCAA individual medalist honors with a four-round score of 11 under par. He shot an even-par 72 on Monday  to win by two strokes over senior Phichaksn Maicon of Texas A&M.

The Bears entered Sunday’s team competition in 10th place and climbed seventh at one point, posting a collective score of 1 under through their first nine holes.But over their final nine holes, they made just two birdies and 20 bogeys to slide out of the top-15 needed to advance.

Cal entered the tournament seeded 29th in the 30-team field and ranked 49th nationally. The Bears finished ahead of 12 teams ranked ahead of them, five of the Top-25 squads.

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