SAN JOSÉ STATE TAKES ADVANTAGE OF ‘HOME FIELD’ FOR EARLY LEAD AT THE WESTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE PRESENTED BY TOPGOLF AT 4-UNDER PAR
San José State’s Sean Yu Cards Lowest Round in his Collegiate Career with a 6-under par 64, tied with USC’s Justin Suh and Stanford’s Isaiah Salinda
USC and Oregon T2 at 2-under par After Monday’s Opening Round
Tuesday’s Second Round Airs Live from 7-10 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel
Scores: Team Leaderboard
SANTA CRUZ, Calif., April 15, 2019 － A trio of players flirted with the course record today at the opening round of the Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf, where San José State University leads the team championship by two with a combined 4-under par 346.
“I’m very proud of these guys. They’ve been through the gauntlet,” said John Kennaday, San Josè State’s men’s golf coach. “I think you need to learn how to lose before you learn how to win. We’ve been learning.”
Sean Yu, a junior at San Jose State, relied on home field advantage at Pasatiempo Golf Club to record his lowest round in his college career at 6-under par 64, one shy of the course record. Yu is tied with University of Southern California senior Justin Suh － the world’s top-ranked amateur and the 2017 Western Intercollegiate Individual medalist － and Stanford senior Isaiah Salinda.
“He got dialed in. Especially as the birdies started to drop, he got on that heater,” said Kennaday on Yu. “It was pretty good. And the team fed off of it. This is a team sport from the body language to the reactions. We’re all watching each other. We’re communicating with each other with that energy.”
USC and Oregon are tied for second in the team competition at 2-under par 348.
Taking place at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz., Calif., the 54-hole stroke play event features an elite field of 13 teams, featuring two of the world’s top-ranked amateurs in Suh (No. 1) and Collin Morikawa (No. 4, University of California). GOLF Channel will air live tournament coverage of the second round on Tuesday in primetime from 7-10 p.m. ET, and final round coverage airs on Wednesday from 4-7 p.m. ET.
The 2019 Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf field:
- University of Arizona
- University of California
- University of California-Irvine
- Colorado State University
- University of Hawaii
- University of Oregon
- Pepperdine University
- San Diego State University
- San José State University
- University of Southern California
- Stanford University
- University of Texas-El Paso
- University of Washington
The individual medalist at the Western Intercollegiate receives the coveted blue jacket, honoring legendary Pasatiempo Golf Club course designer Alister MacKenzie, also the designer of Augusta National Golf Club.
The tournament’s rich history features past champions Johnny Miller, Mark O’Meara, Peter Jacobsen, and San José State alums Ken Venturi, Arron Oberholser and Mark Lye. Recent individual champions include Norman Xiong (2018), Justin Suh (2017), Maverick McNealy (2016), Scottie Scheffler (2015) and Patrick Rodgers (2012). In total, players who have competed in the Western Intercollegiate account for more than 350 PGA TOUR victories and 40 major championships, including past participants Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Steve Stricker, Roger Maltbie and Duffy Waldorf.